Jacqueline Unane at St Asaph Gallery

Journeys: Catalonia & Euskadi is an exhibition inspired in both, the artist’s 2013 as well as her previous visits to Catalonia and her early childhood memories of her father’s family in the Basque Country.

Journey: Catalonia is inspired by the artist’s 2013 and previous visits to Catalonia. In her work, the artist imagines travelling from continent to continent, crossing the Atlantic Ocean either by air or by sea. “From above I observe the earth and its force in the waves of the ocean.” Either enlarged sections of Catalonian maps or of the street of Barcelona crisscross the sky, suggesting –in collage style– Gaudi’s mosaics; or the free lines of Miro’s or Picasso’s abstract language.

Journey: Euskadi was inspired by the artist’s memories of her early childhood and memories of her father’s family in the Basque Country. Engraved in her mind is the map of a large and mysterious land named Euskadi –the Basque language name of the Basque Country– that hanged on her grandparents home in Santiago, Chile, as a constant reminder of her grandfather’s native land. “I studied the lines of the map to fully understand the country where my grandfather Ignacio was born. Years later, I visited Euskadi, his house and met my extended family, there –at that moment I understood and this understanding has since strengthened my connection with my own Basque roots.”

Jacqueline Unanue

Jacqueline Unanue is a Chilean born visual artist of Spanish ancestry residing in Philadelphia (PA), since 2000. She studied design at the Universidad de Chile de Valparaíso. While a student, she became interested in the rock art found in her native country. With her husband Ricardo Guajardo, also a designer and artist, she traveled extensively through Chile’s Atacama Desert, doing on-site rock art research in the solitary and awe-inspiring valleys, mountains and cliff areas that contain art that was carved or painted thousands of years ago. She also traveled to Spain to study the pre-historic paintings of the Altamira caves in the Basque Country, which being the home of her paternal ancestors connected her to her roots.

Opening reception on Friday, September 16, from 6 pm to 8 pm.