What Makes Us Who We Are: A Celebration of Latinx Artists

October 29, 2021

What an honor it was to show my work with five other amazing Latin American artists as part of our local Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. I was invited to participate by the Decatur Arts Alliance and Placita Latina to share my work as part of this exhibition of emerging Latinx artists, What Makes Us Who We Are: A Celebration of Latinx Artists

My sister, Sylvia Montesinos, and I at the artist reception.

Showing my work as a Latina means more than I can express. I’m Costa Rican and my dad’s Ecuadorian. I’ve been in Decatur now for 28 years.  

There are places in Ecuador where my last name, Montesinos, is practically synonymous with painter—not because of me but because of the generations before me who followed their passions and ended up as painters, artists. 

I’m a 3rd generation painter, designer and artist. The Ecuadorian side of my family lives and breathes art, and we’ve always been encouraged to live authentically and follow our true paths. In most cases the journeys are and have been artistic ones.

While so much of my family is Ecuadorian, my heart, though belongs to Costa Rica. I was born and spent my childhood there. My deep love of and respect for nature come from spending my formative years messing around outside in Costa Rica. I remember spending hours outside by myself and loving every minute of it.

It’s my art that brings my two Latin cultures together. My passion for art comes from the Ecuadorian side of my family, and my inspiration comes from my life in Costa Rica.

And as a painter I seek to capture the mystery and healing power of the natural world. Hopefully you can see a little of all these works.

The Color of Change, Acrylic and watercolor on canvas,
36 x 48 x 1.5 in

I’d like to share a little about one of the pieces that has great meaning for me. While I hesitate to assign meaning to an abstract work because I think they can mean something different to each viewer, I’ll share briefly about one piece in particular—The Color of Change. 

I had a significant moment of clarity as I happened to be working on this piece while watching the Inauguration in January 2021. As I painted that day, the concept of the piece crystallized like none have before. 

This piece is about the the power of diversity in our society. Just as diversity makes our world richer, more interesting and more exciting, my painting came to life only once I added one more set of tones to the piece — the rich brown tones.

The Color of Change started as an experiment in color and proportion. I wanted a simple palette and big, bold strokes.

I didn’t start the piece with a particular message in mind. I simply allowed the message and the painting to emerge organically as I painted. I let the paint speak, and in this case the paint spoke loud and clear. 

In the end this piece mirrors the changes happening on inauguration day. It’s an explosion of blue elements (mirroring our new government) creating positive change in a world that truly comes to life only through diversity in race, gender, backgrounds, cultures and opinions.

Thank you to everyone for supporting me and encouraging me along my art journey, especially my husband, daughter, extended family and friends. It’s an honor to be here to share a part of my Hispanic heritage and my passion in this way.

What Makes Us Who We Are: A Celebration of Latinx Artists was on display September 15 - October 20, 2021 in the Decatur Arts Alliance Gallery in the Decatur Visitor’s Center in Decatur, Georgia.

Artists: Cristina Montesinos, Yehimi Cambrón, Josephine Figueroa, Anaitté Vaccaro, Hector Amador and Miguel Martinez.