Artist Nuvia Crisol Guerra

Mexican culture and feminism are recurring themes in artist Nuvia Crisol Guerra’s work. In “De la Tierra Somos / We’re from the Earth,” the painting on the cover of CityBeat this week, Crisol honors her Mexican grandmothers—two women she never got to meet.

Crisols’ grandmothers died when both of her parents were young, so she always felt there was a gap in her family’s history. She was able to broach the sensitive subject with her father every year during Day of the Dead, when invoking spirits is part of the tradition. The paintings document those conversations while honoring her grandmothers.

These days, Crisol is working on a new series of paintings inspired by the embroidered patterns of women’s blouses from a region in Oaxaca, Mexico, considered to be one of the last matriarchal societies in the world. The paintings are pared down to precise lines and bright colors.

“Those two things have always been my forte—line and rich color,” Crisol says. “So, now I’m playing with how you see color. Some of them almost have a 3D aspect to them.”

Crisol’s paintings are part of  Dia De los Muertos, a group art show on view at Rhino Art Co. (97 N. Coast Hwy. 101 in Encinitas) through Nov. 12, and in another Dia De Los Muertos show opening at Casa Familiar’s The Front (147 W. San Ysidro Blvd. in San Ysidor) on Nov. 4.