Emerge

Hooks-Epstein Galleries is thrilled to present an exhibition of new prints and mixed media collages by 2020 Tamarind Institute Resident and Los Angeles based printmaker, Stephanie Mercado, in observance of the "PrintHouston 2022 Biennial". "Emerge" will open with an “Open House” on Saturday, June 4, 2022, from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M., with the artist in attendance. The exhibition will continue through Thursday, June 30th. In "Emerge", Stephanie Mercado’s 4th solo gallery exhibition, she constructs her collages from hand-carved, hand-printed elements and colored papers that merge traditional printmaking with experimental practices, fine art, and craft. Through her artwork, Mercado explores feminist narratives, including women in the labor force, domestic life, and the persecution of women through witch-hunts. People often shape their identities by the work they do, and working conditions can either make or break them. The pandemic has re-contextualized the role each individual plays in creating a functioning society. For many, especially women, blurred work-life boundaries have led to mass resignations. "Emerge" serves as an examination of the psychological effects capitalism has had on workers and follows the journey of a character that breaks through the mold in a rediscovery of self. In the creation and manifestation of art and magic from destruction, pain, and loss, Mercado’s series of work coalesces as an act of resistance to the pandemic. As an exhibition, "Emerge" is a reclaiming of identity through alternate forms of knowledge as shaped by the natural world. Stephanie Mercado earned a B.F.A. in Drawing and Painting from California State University (Long Beach, CA). She also participated in California State University’s Drawing and Painting International Program. Mercado’s work has been shown both nationally and internationally in select group exhibitions. Her work will be featured in the group exhibition, "MANY", taking place at the Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA beginning on May 29, 2022. In 2021-2022, her solo exhibition, "Sustain: Essential Worker Portraits", was featured at the Skirball Cultural Center (Los Angeles, CA). In 2020, she completed an Artist Residency at the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico. Mercado was recently selected from a group of over fifty artists to work on "East Los Love", a community-based public art mural in East Los Angeles.