LETICIA MALDONADO
Under A Steady Magnificence
November 9 through December 7, 2024
If there is one indisputable, yet paradoxical axiom, it is that the only constant in life is change. Like the seasons, change brings into our world beginnings and endings; renewals and transformations; ebbs and flows. Working to make sense of the very laws of nature – parsing out the in-betweenness of existence – is at the heart of Leticia Maldonado’s newest exhibition, Under A Steady Magnificence on view at Bermudez Projects in Cypress Park, November 9 through December 7, 2024.
With seven new mid to large scale mixed media neon sculptures, Maldonado tackles – physically, poetically, and passionately – pervasive themes philosophized by humankind for millennia. Each artwork serves as a meditation within a larger prayer book that is the exhibition.
Maldonado says, “This short suite of new works cumulatively represents a place where a soul could be, but a body cannot; the idea of projecting love and peace at personal phantoms, and calamity as change, and therefore, consistency.”
Leading viewers into Maldonado’s invocation is the celestial A Steady Magnificence. Inspired by the ever-constant waxing and waning of the moon, A Steady Magnificence represents the ebbing of a golden Harvest moon as it illuminates a cluster of pampas grasses swaying in the night wind. Symbolizing the unceasing revolutions of the world, this work measures at 36 inches in diameter. The multitude of tiny, intricate glittering details seen throughout the surface are hand engraved by the artist.
“Crawling around in an empty seabed under an unknown gold moon which demanded a harvest, I contemplated the thin moment between where I just was standing, and the space where nothing will ever be the same again. You can only exist in the moonlight,” adds Maldonado.
Embodying this consideration are Neither Here and Nor There, two mid-sized mixed media works comprised of bronze mirrored plexiglass, burned wood, mica flakes, glass and neon. Both characterizing blue stained-glass windows, Neither Here holds a neon rose symbolizing a body that holds life. The rose’s color changes constantly referring to the quicksand-nature of energy, and how it transmutes into something untouchable; Nor There features a candle to which the reflection of its flame in the mirror represents something that exists in a space that no human can touch.
Once again, Maldonado’s artistic prowess is evident within this exhibition. Each artwork is designed, sculpted, fabricated, engraved, and constructed by hand by the artist.
Are We All Just Praying to The Best In Each Other? and Just once, with beauty and courage are strong examples of Maldonado’s adroitness. Created as prayer books, Maldonado’s skill is seen in the details given to the abundant milagros (religious folk charms or ex-votos) and carvings in the former; and made evident in the delicate etching of the latter.
Under A Steady Magnificence is a communion of the deeply-profound examinations of existence. Consecrated by Maldonado, the exhibition is a space of reflection, contemplation, and entreaty to the Consistency of Change; its inevitability; and, what is created in the processing of its experience.
“This work is from the ebb; they are just a small primer of the anatomy of grief. Transparent overlays of digestible trauma on top of insufficiently-explored caverns. The empty darkness beneath belying an amount of fresh space that makes the mind reel. These are just the lightest sketches of the things I can’t really yet look at,” concludes Maldonado.
About the Artist
Leticia Maldonado (American, b. 1980) was born in West Covina, California and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She grew up surrounded by the bright, eye-catching signs atop famous casinos such as The Dunes, The Tropicana, The Flamingo, and The Stardust. For years, she has been mentored by neon artist Michael Flechtner, and has swiftly emerged as a rising star. Maldonado has been included in several museum group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Her debut museum solo exhibition, The Storytellers was held at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, CA (2022). Work by the artist is held in The Neon Museum, Las Vegas. The artist lives in Los Angeles and works in Van Nuys, California.