Craft & Care spotlights Aguiñiga s ambitious social practice project, AMBOS, a series of site-specific interventions along the US Mexico border

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1 WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION OF DESIGN, SOCIAL PRACTICE, AND ACTIVISM, TANYA AGUIÑIGA INVESTIGATES THE CREATION OF COMMUNITY THROUGH FIBER ART, FURNITURE, SCULPTURE, AND PERFORMANCE Craft & Care sptlights Aguiñiga s ambitius scial practice prject, AMBOS, a series f site-specific interventins alng the US Mexic brder Tanya Aguiñiga: Craft & Care May 8, 2018 Octber 2, 2018 Opening Preview: May 9, :30 pm with remarks at 6 pm Tanya Aguiñiga, Brder Quipu/Quipu Frnteriz, Pht: Curtesy Gina Clyne Phtgraphy. NEW YORK, NY (May 8, 2018) The Museum f Arts and Design (MAD) is pleased t present the first institutinal sl exhibitin f wrks by Ls Angeles based artist and designer Tanya Aguiñiga. Craft & Care highlights Aguiñiga s practice at the intersectin f fiber art, design, scial practice, and activism, with a fcus n mtherhd, care, brder issues, and the creatin f cmmunity themes that run thrughut the artist s wrk. On view thrugh Octber 2, the exhibitin sptlights AMBOS Prject (Art Made Between Oppsite Sides), Aguiñiga s nging activatin f the US Mexic brder.

2 Aguiñiga s wrk, ranging frm her Perfrmance Crafting series which uses craft t generate dialgues abut identity, culture, and gender t furniture whse material and frm reimagine its functinality t prvide supprt, asserts design (and craft) thinking as plitical. At the heart f her practice is an inquiry int hw cmmunity is created, and the rle that craft, design, and materiality play in its frmatin. We are thrilled t bring Tanya s multifaceted practice t MAD, said Shannn R. Strattn, MAD s William and Mildred Lasdn Chief Curatr. Her wrk is cmpassinate and curageus, and her emphasis n interactin and cllabratin is inspiring. Bth her prcess and her finished pieces testify t the pwer f craft and design t bring peple tgether. Aguiñiga grew up n bth sides f the brder, crssing between Tijuana and San Dieg daily t attend schl. In her frmative years she made cllabrative installatins with the Brder Arts Wrkshp, which engages the languages f activism and cmmunity-based public art t address the binatinal peple wh inhabit brder cities. The experience inspired her t create AMBOS Prject, an nging series f artist interventins and cmmuter cllabratins that address binatinal transitin and identity in the US Mexic brder regins. Craft & Care situates physical bjects, phtgraphic dcumentatin, radi bradcasts, ephemera, data, and ther materials generated by AMBOS within Aguiñiga s nging design practice t demnstrate the link that the artist is frging between cmmunity wrk and design thinking an apprach t prblem slving that utilizes creative strategies. MAD presents Craft & Care as part f this seasn s investigatin f the plitical impact f craft. It is installed in the secnd-flr galleries, acrss frm and in dialgue with the current exhibitin La Frntera: Encunters Alng the Brder, which explres the brder as a cmplex landscape f human interactin thrugh the medium f cntemprary jewelry. Exhibitin Highlights: Scial Practice Funded by Aguiñiga and launched in 2016, AMBOS Prject (Art Made Between Oppsite Sides) is a lng-term initiative that activates sites alng the US Mexic brder thrugh cllabrative art-making and strytelling prjects. Started as a mnth-lng activatin at the San Ysidr brder crssing in Tijuana, it evlved its fcus t recrd and paint a picture f life alng the length f the brder. T date, AMBOS, in cllabratin with artists and cmmunity rganizatins wrking with brder issues/themes, has prduced prgrams at thirteen US/Mexic prts f entry, crssing a ttal f frty times. During the curse f this exhibitin, Aguiñiga and her team will cmplete their jurney t all f the sister cities alng the brder expanding the Brder Quipu/Quipu Frnteriz prject. Thrugh the different phases f the prject, AMBOS has fstered a greater sense f intercnnectedness in the brder regins it has visited. AMBOS as a prject has becme multifaceted: part dcumentatin f the brder, part cllabratin with artists, part cmmunity activism, part explratin f identities influenced by the liminal zne f the brderlands. By cnnecting with lcal artists, activists, and makers in the brder regin, AMBOS wrks t capture an accurate representatin f the sister cities and cmmunities living and wrking n bth sides. Fiber Art

3 An installatin created as part f AMBOS, Brder Quipu/Quipu Frnteriz ( ) serves as a recrd f daily migratins nrth frm Tijuana t San Dieg. Cmmuters preparing t crss the brder were asked t fill ut a pstcard that psed the questin: What are yur thughts when yu crss this brder? Each pstcard came with tw strands f thread, which the cmmuters were asked t tie int a knt, representing the relatinship between the US and Mexic, the tw selves that exist n either side f the brder, and their mental state at the time f crssing. Each day s knts were tied tgether t make a quipu, based n the traditinal Inca accunting apparatus. Aguiñiga s large-scale abstract wven and kntted wall hangings cmprise a significant cmpnent f her art practice. T make CRAFTA Weave (2015), she decnstructed seventy-five traditinal Mexican blankets. The wrk criticizes the Nrth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which adversely affected the ecnmy f the craftspeple in Mexic. Furniture Design Aguiñiga s furniture practice explres many f the themes fund in her scial practice. Felt and ther fibers are activated t create physical bjects that are bth sturdy and nurturing. Fr Lw Rd Chair (2015), the artist tk a mdern chair frm rendered in hard, cld surfaces and cvered it in gray felt, remaking it int a piece that is cmfrtable and welcming. A mdular seating system, Supprt (2014) ties tgether cncepts f sustenance and care thrugh the artist s chice f materials: durable and utilitarian denim and leather (the frmer lng assciated with labr), filled with fd staples, rice and salt. These chices als highlight a value dichtmy: all materials used are cmmn n the surface, but leather and salt have als been luxury gds at different pints in histry. In cmbinatin these hierarchies are mt, and all materials becme equally pragmatic and luxurius as units f cmfrt that are flexible and sft t the tuch. Sculpture Palapa (2017), a hanging sculpture made f pwder-cated steel and synthetic hair, serves as an intimate and safe space fr reflectin. Viewers are welcme t enter the umbrella-like structure, either alne r in pairs. Here again, Aguiñiga uses her medium as a site fr cmmunity gathering. Perfrmance Crafting In the perfrmance Hand in Hand (2015), Aguiñiga tk the wet-felting technique fr which she is best knwn and applied it t bdies, bth as a way t experience the materiality f wl and t allw fr a cmmunal experience f making. Wet-felting, which requires a rigrus rubbing f wl fibers by hand using sap and warm water, is a highly tactile prcess, akin t massaging the wl. Each participant felted the left arm f the persn in frnt f them while their left arm was felted by the persn behind them, creating a perpetual chain f care thrugh craft. The felted hands made during the perfrmance are n display in this exhibitin.

4 Felt Me Suit is the material remnant f the artist s perfrmance Felt Me (2013), presented in Ls Angeles. In the curse f mre than five hurs, participants wet-felted Aguiñiga, using her bdy as the frm frm which the textile wuld take its shape. ABOUT THE ARTIST Tanya Aguiñiga (b. 1978) is a Ls Angeles based artist/designer/craftspersn wh was raised in Tijuana, Mexic. She hlds an MFA in Furniture Design frm Rhde Island Schl f Design and a BA frm San Dieg State University. Her current wrk uses craft as a perfrmative medium t generate dialgues abut identity, culture, and gender while creating cmmunity. This apprach has helped museums and nn-prfits in the United States and Mexic diversify their audiences by cnnecting marginalized cmmunities thrugh cllabratin. Aguiñiga is a United States Artists Target Fellw in the field f Crafts and Traditinal Arts, as well as a Natinal Assciatin f Latin Arts and Cultures and Creative Capital 2016 grant awardee. The funder and Directr f AMBOS (Art Made Between Oppsite Sides), she has been the subject f a cver article fr American Craft Magazine and has been featured in Craft in America n PBS. EXHIBITION CREDITS Tanya Aguiñiga: Craft & Care is curated by Shannn R. Strattn, MAD s William and Mildred Lasdn Chief Curatr, with the supprt f Assistant Manager f Curatrial Affairs Angelik Vizcarrnd-Laby. Generus supprt fr Tanya Aguiñiga: Craft & Care is prvided by Barbara Tber, Chair f MAD s Internatinal Cuncil. Additinal supprt is prvided by Lauri and Duglas Freedman, Sndra Gilman and Cels Gnzalez-Falla, the Lenre G. Tawney Fundatin, Vlume Gallery, and the Andy Warhl Fundatin fr the Visual Arts. PROGRAMMING Talk In Cnversatin: Tanya Aguiñiga and Art Made Between Oppsite Sides Mderated by Shannn R. Strattn, William and Mildred Lasdn Chief Curatr Saturday, May 12, :00 t 5:30 pm $10 general / $5 members and students The Theater at MAD Jin artist, designer, and activist Tanya Aguiñiga and Shannn R. Strattn, MAD s William and Mildred Lasdn Chief Curatr, fr a cnversatin explring the nging cmmunity-art and interventinist activities f the binatinal artist prject AMBOS: Art Made Between Oppsite Sides, featured in the exhibitin Tanya Aguiñiga: Craft and Care. Participating AMBOS members include Jackie Amezquita, Cecilia Brawley, Gina Clyne, Natalie Gdinez, and Diana Ry. This prgram is presented as part f NYCxDESIGN 2018.

5 ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN The Museum f Arts and Design (MAD) champins cntemprary makers acrss creative fields and presents the wrk f artists, designers, and artisans wh apply the highest level f ingenuity and skill. Since the Museum s funding in 1956 by philanthrpist and visinary Aileen Osbrn Webb, MAD has celebrated all facets f making and the creative prcesses by which materials are transfrmed, frm traditinal techniques t cutting-edge technlgies. Tday, the Museum s curatrial prgram builds upn a rich histry f exhibitins that emphasize a crss-disciplinary apprach t art and design, and reveals the wrkmanship behind the bjects and envirnments that shape ur everyday lives. MAD prvides an internatinal platfrm fr practitiners wh are influencing the directin f cultural prductin and driving twenty-first-century innvatin, and fsters a participatry setting fr visitrs t have direct encunters with skilled making and cmpelling wrks f art and design. Fr high-reslutin images, visit ur press image archive: User ID: mad Passwrd: media #TanyaAguiniga PRESS CONTACTS Museum f Arts and Design Claire Laprte / Arz Hansen/ Christina Allan press@madmuseum.rg Third Eye Will Hffman / Thmas Dewey Davis Will@hellthirdeye.cm