First generation Salvadoran American Artist Gabriela Moreno, who recently graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, makes her way from Hyde Park to Lynn for her first public art showing with her exhibition “The Mundane in El Salvador” at La Copà Cafe Restaurante Bar, located at 23 Central Avenue, June 1 at 10 a.m.
The exhibition seeks to depict ordinary, daily life in El Salvador, the artist’s family’s country of origin, and showcase how she views the mundane world in a more captivating way. Although Moreno’s work is set in El Salvador, she believes its themes resonate with a broader audience including other Hispanic, Central American and Caribbean individuals.
Moreno’s artistic expression is profoundly intertwined with her personal identity, cultural heritage and lived experience. Her aspiration is to empower and represent her community, advocating for their equitable representation and cultivating environments where the Latino community experiences visibility and feels valued.
Exploring the interplay of color, this collection delves into the technical aspects of composition and spatial arrangement. Art from this collection have been featured in GBH’s Community Canvas series, but now Moreno aims to showcase her work to the public in a more intimate setting.
“There is a stigma with artists in the Hispanic community. Growing up, I’ve heard: ‘You’re not going to make any money,’ ‘you’re not going to do anything with that,’ ‘you’re not going to be successful,’” Moreno said. “I didn’t care. I said, ‘I feel like I have the talent to do so, and I’m gonna do it,’ and I’ve had so many people guide and help me, including my mentor Chandra Mendez-Ortiz.”
Moreno mostly grew up in a family without artists until recently when her older brother, Jose Moreno, became a costume designer. She remembers her father bringing back Spanish dubbed “Dragon Ball Z” movies from El Salvador, which they would watch on Sundays after church. Inspired by these films, Moreno began tracing the characters on the television screen.
This practice continued at the Hyde Park Branch of the Boston Public Library, as she traced on the computer screens there, and that carried on when her family acquired a computer, further developing her drawing skills. Initially, she aspired to become a manga artist, but that later changed in high school when she met Mendez-Ortiz, who guided Moreno to paint, and she ultimately fell in love with it.
“I know in the future I might fail, I might not make any progress, but this is the first step into seeing that I can do it,” Moreno said. “I’m excited for my future. I know there’s going to be a lot of trials, a lot of throwing myself out there, but that’s part of the process.”
You can view more of Moreno’s work on Instagram (@gabrielamomo_)
