“Where does love start and where does it end?” Cynthia Huerta asks these questions in her most recent art show “Las Secuelas del Amor Propio” (The Aftermath of Self-Love) featuring over 100 works that she created from 2020 to 2024. The exhibition is displayed in the Division 9 Gallery in Downtown Riverside, the same venue as her first solo show 15 years ago. 

A sequel to her first showcase “Las Secuelas del Amor” (The Aftermath of Love), Huerta dedicates her recent exhibition, open from November 7th to November 27th, as a reflection of how she has grown over the years. Displaying colorful works highlighting advice from loved ones and lessons learned, Huerta overcomes vulnerability to share her journey towards reaching internal peace.  

Huerta has dedicated much of her career to the Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) community as the founder of the “Love With Joy Art Club” and through workshops she has hosted. Tapping back into her personal creative journey, she explores the significance of art to herself through the creation of emotionally reflective artworks. Growing from her first solo show that revolves around “her and her heartbreak,” Huerta focuses on rebuilding oneself, destroying boundaries, and recognizing patterns within the context of growing up as a Mexican-American artist. 

Courtesy of Cynthia Huerta

Walking into the gallery, the scent of a chai candle and a view of color among white walls greets visitors warmly. Both left and right walls are filled with 104 watercolor paintings spanning from 2020 to 2024, with varying ranges of detail, color, and imagery. These works are Huerta’s direct emotional response to different hardships. 

The freeing movement of the watercolor creates a sense of revitalization that encourages the viewer to look deeper and analyze the many details. As a whole, the viewer can see the growth in skill and confidence as the paintings become more detailed and expressive. Soft colors turn vibrant and crying eyes turn into flowers and hummingbirds. Huerta reflects on how death, self-love and loving others impacts one’s day-to-day life.

Courtesy of Cynthia Huerta

Moving into the second room of the gallery, people are invited to waltz around and engage with a multitude of artworks, creating a space for conversation. Some might reflect on the subtle  topics of reconnecting with nature, self-growth and grounding over time. 

A hanging piece with pictures of the sky can be seen on the right side, inviting viewers to take a moment and breathe. 

Huerta shares about how looking at the sky allows her to clear her head and reminds herself of the amount of love she’s surrounded by, referencing how the sun represents her resilience. She recalls how her mother would say to her, “Eres un sol,” (You are a sun), which acted as an affirmation: Despite feeling terrible in the moment, everything will resolve itself, and one will continue to shine. Huerta hopes to share that same affirmation with her viewers, letting them know they have a companion during hard times, with her artwork spreading the message that they should not let others define their essence.

At the adjacent wall, a large painting titled, “Ataque Depresivo” (Depressive Bout), fills the viewers with thought, relatability and causes self-insertion. Huerta puts a portrait of herself in the center, divided by a happy half that symbolizes her resiliency, the joy life brings her and the warmth she feels from the multitude of love in her inner circle. The other half represents the sad parts of life, the depressive episodes, the struggle to overcome the past and the generational burden to be more emotionally mature than those before. This work symbolizes Huerta’s journey from loss to embracing struggle and learning how to overcome hardships while staying grateful. It also ties back into the message associated with the hanging sky piece. 

The narrative of the works moves to generational burdens in terms of emotions, trauma and pondering the power of healing internally. Multimedia artworks with metal framing depict different people, such as Huerta as a child and her grandmother Margarita. It showcases the concept of healing one’s inner child and healing the wounds of the generations that had to bury their voices under authority and toxic culture beliefs. 

The viewer may involuntarily start to reflect on their own familial ties and the emotional burdens they might carry when viewing the piece’s composition. This juxtaposition of these two pieces is thought-provoking and explains how the emotional weight of every generation having to be better than the past is heavy. However, it is important to not only heal oneself but also the future and past.

As the scent of the sweet candle slowly fades, a hanging artwork of phrases peaks interest as a final farewell. Coming into the gallery, one reflects on their own journey, confronting the past and reflecting on the growth ahead. On the way out, a hanging artwork with clouds of phrases bids the audience farewell with words of encouragement and clarity. Phrases such as, “If it’s confusing, it’s a no,” and “A veces llorar es bueno,” (Sometimes it’s good to just cry) serve as a gift from Huerta to the audience in hopes that they can grow and learn to love themselves just as she did. 

“Leave your ghosts behind, break down your walls of regret, and look up to the sky with hope for better to come. The aftermath of self-love might look, taste and smell differently to each person, however, all love starts with oneself and ends with oneself. I hope that people can come into this show and self-reflect, find themselves and find that beautiful self-love,” – Cynthia Huerta, 2024.

 

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