Beauty knows no borders for Chicago artist born in Mexico

CHICAGO — Art has no language. It can be understood and appreciated across borders. The universal nature of art is the guiding principle of Mexican American painter Adriana Peña.

“Art has no words,” Peña said. “You feel it. You live it.  You enjoy it.”

Peña, 46, immigrated to Chicago from Mexico in 1999.  She came, she said, “for the American dream.”

She left her home country, but held tight to its culture and spirit, keeping a picture of Mexico’s vast landscapes and vibrant people in her memory.

“For many years I was ashamed of my skin tone,” she said.

Her new collection is a celebration of her heritage called “Del color de mi tierra / Brown as my land.”

She’s created a series of gold-leaf paintings showing Mexican lands shining against the backdrop of reddish-brown earth tones.

“The fact that the gold leaf stood out so much against the background, it wasn’t even planned,” she said.  “But it shows my people shining brightly she said.”

In Espacio 3628, a shop and gallery in Logan Square, Peña showed WGN News how she creates the signature look. Starting with a black canvas, she paints a red undercoat. 

“It has to be red because sometimes when you apply the gold leaf, it like breaks apart and the red, it’s weird how it covers the little rip,” she said.

Using a blow dryer, she quickly dries the paint, then applies an adhesive sheet, tapping it with the bristles of brush.  The technique yields a shiny area, a unique texture. 

“What you do when you go over the canvass is just like tapping on it,” she said. “It creates, like, the texture. then this dries out, then acrylic.”

The excess is brushed away, then the dust is vacuumed, and the piece is revealed.  Her work, viewers said, speaks louder than words.

“Her art speaks to me,” said Evelyn Medina, the owner of Espacio 3628.  “I am Mexican. I am an immigrant from Mexico City, and I identify with her art.”