Celeste De Luna
No Me Pides Perdon, 2019, Color Reduction Woodcut on Paper, 9 x12” 2019.
“Riotous color schemes are mine by birthright from the subtropical Texas-Mexican border where I grew up.”
Celeste De Luna is an artist living and working in San Antonio, Texas (USA). Her approach to color is thoughtful, and her approach to printmaking is based on a love of process. Celeste’s impactful work is created with relief printmaking techniques and is sometimes printed on fabric and mixed media printmaking techniques. Currently she is working on images about creatures of the future.
How does color represent or support the mind space of your work?
Color supports my work in creating moods and telling narratives about ideas that are important to me. In earlier works I found color too distracting and so many choices debilitating. Although I'm still strongly attracted to graphic black and white prints, color also seems appropriate, and so necessary for me now.
Paranoia Quilt, Woodcut on Fabric, 37 x 64” 2019.
See, Shift, color reduction woodblock print, 15 x 17," 2020.
What are the direct references, research, or aspects of history that your work includes?
My work is about landscapes, and specifically, Texas Mexican landscape although I can see myself creating work about other liminal spaces. Right now the Criaturas of the Future work is about environmental justice issues on the border in a futuristic border landscape. My friend Jerry Lyles, a landscape painter, has told me that all landscape paintings are political. I think I might just be more upfront about it.
What cultural aspects of color are built into your work?
Traditionally, Chicano art is associated with bright colors with the graphic arts being the exception. For a long time I shied away from color–loving the simplicity of black and white graphic images–but perhaps also hiding behind it.
Riotous color schemes are mine by birthright from the subtropical Texas-Mexican border where I grew up, with a 365-day growing season. hot-pink bugambilia, noisy green jays, big blue skies, and giant bird of paradise flowers were so common as to be unremarkable.
Being intentional about color has helped me come to terms with fears about my work being stereotyped and express the sense of connection I feel to the landscape and people.
Between Jays, Color Reduction linocut 8 x8”, 2021.