Murmuration

Round 54: Southern Survey Biennial

Project Row Houses, Houston, TX

“Murmuration” is a collaborative installation between Naomi Lemus and Victoria Ravelo for Round 54: Southern Survey Biennial at Project Row Houses, curated by Valerie Cassel-Oliver.

Naomi and Victoria are interested in the way generational memory gives material and form to tradition, trauma, aesthetics, and values. Both artists pull from their shared experiences as first-generation Americans, despite their different cultural upbringings. The two work with a variety of materials such as fiber, photographs, archival documents, and reclaimed objects to create works that explore ancestral histories, pain, as well as the resilience of their communities.

“Murmuration” is an intimate yet monumental installation borrowing used clothing, accessories and items gathered from members of local, working-class communities of color in Houston. The clothing and objects were strung in abstract arrangements reminiscent of clothes lines, transforming the art houses’ inner environment into an expanded domestic altar. Reminiscent of cultural traditions lost or hidden due to social-political constraints, the installation seeks to highlight undervalued practices and threads of shared experience in our communities.

Following the installation’s meandering pathways and spaces, the viewer is invited to create their own trajectories while experiencing the work, adding yet another layer of history to its site.

October 8, 2022 - February 12, 2023

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For the closing of “Murmuration”, Naomi and Victoria held a 3 day Open Closet where all items collected for the project were returned to the community. Over 250lbs. of clothes were given back. Special thanks to Sol Diaz, Gladys and Olivia, Natalie C. and Veronica, Alexis Pye, Corey De’Juan Sherrard Jr.