Photo Courtesy of Rebeca Navarro
Jessica Elena Aquino (b.1991) is fiber/interdisciplinary artist and poet from Santa Ana, CA currently based in Brooklyn. Through the use of memory, mythology, cultural iconography, and her relationship to nature, Aquino uses alternative techniques of weaving and sculpture to fabricate her own imaginative narratives that give meaning and form to her inherited ancestral knowledge and the poetry in the in-betweenness. The in-betweenness in navigating her pastoral longing to restore a lost communion to her Mexican, American identities, intergenerational trauma, and relation to the earth itself.
Aquino earned her B.A in Studio Art in Painting from Colgate University in 2014 and an MFA at the PA Academy of the Fine Arts in 2019. Her work has been exhibited at the Barrett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, NY; Pilot Projects, PA; The Plastic Club; The PA Academy of the Fine Arts; Marginal Utility, and Anna Zorina Gallery. Aquino has been invited to participate in Respect for the Rights of Others is Peace exhibition, at Da Vinci Arts Alliance in November 2020. She was an Artist in Residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute and will be attending Chautauqua School of Art's Residency program Summer 2021. Aquino has won numerous awards such as the Alumni Council Award, Murray Dessner Travel Grant. Aquino has worked for multiple curators and within the Education department at the PA Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Museum of Modern Art, in Manhattan, NY. Aquino is currently completing her 9 month residency at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Aquino earned her B.A in Studio Art in Painting from Colgate University in 2014 and an MFA at the PA Academy of the Fine Arts in 2019. Her work has been exhibited at the Barrett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, NY; Pilot Projects, PA; The Plastic Club; The PA Academy of the Fine Arts; Marginal Utility, and Anna Zorina Gallery. Aquino has been invited to participate in Respect for the Rights of Others is Peace exhibition, at Da Vinci Arts Alliance in November 2020. She was an Artist in Residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute and will be attending Chautauqua School of Art's Residency program Summer 2021. Aquino has won numerous awards such as the Alumni Council Award, Murray Dessner Travel Grant. Aquino has worked for multiple curators and within the Education department at the PA Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Museum of Modern Art, in Manhattan, NY. Aquino is currently completing her 9 month residency at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY.