Artist Augustine Romero creates work to shine a light on multiple displaced contexts, offering a space for imagining what could be if we dare to create counter-narratives told from the position of marginalized communities.
“The concept of Displaced Context refers to the current state of affairs in which competing narratives about power, privilege, and inequality are broadcast via the media and official government proclamations. Facts are twisted and retold to support fetishized narratives that distract from the realities of inequality and injustice. The works I create shine a light on multiple displaced contexts and offer a space for imagining what could be if we dare to create counter-narratives told from the position of the lived experiences of marginalized communities. I use material and subject matter from my own life experiences of resisting by creating a new language of possibility in a displaced context.”
West Mesa Allegories was made in response to the West Mesa murders: “In 2009, the bodies of eleven women were found in Albuquerque’s West Mesa. To this day, the West Mesa murders are unsolved. The South Broadway Cultural Center where I am the gallery curator is visited by a diverse community. I would often see missing person flyers posted on the bulletin board at the entry. I wondered if I saw any of these women in the public gallery. The media described these women in ways that were not respectful of their human rights. I constructed a memorial that I hope pays respect without being too literal. The forms I constructed are made of plywood and spray paint. I thought of these forms as vessels of spiritual transformation.”
Augustine Romero was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado where he received a BA in graphic design at Colorado State University-Pueblo. He also has an MA in fine arts from New York University. He has worked as gallery curator for the City of Albuquerque since 2006. Honors include fellowships at Socrates Sculpture Park and the Smithsonian. Romero continues to work and develop his own art, exhibits regionally, and has public sculptures and works in private collections.
Albuquerque, NM | ig: @romerosculpture