Ramiro Gomez

Mi Tierra Artist Ramiro Gomez

Ramiro Gomez is one of 13 artists who created installations at the Denver Art Museum for Mi Tierra: Contemporary Artists Explore Place.

Ramiro Gomez, Lupita, 2017. Acrylic
paint and plastic spray bottle on
cardboard, 49 x 83 in. © Ramiro Gomez

Gomez says:

"Right now, my intuition is saying, 'Paint yourself, paint your stories.' I came to Denver intending to connect my personal history to this new environment. The fortuitous meeting of a janitorial employee named Lupita Velazquez cemented my idea to focus on a custodial worker at the museum. As I shaped the narrative for the project, I was very aware that I was tapping into both family histories—Lupita’s and mine—and making our very private stories public. My mother works as a custodian at a public school, a job vital to the school’s maintenance. So as I observed Lupita in her daily work around the Denver Art Museum, I was reminded of my mother and connected their labor. For this reason, my installation is indirectly about my mother, through the focus on Lupita. It’s about their shared experiences as mothers working as janitors to support their families.

My goal is to make these 'invisible' people visible in order to remind everyone of their contributions to the community. Through huge cardboard paintings, I seek to address Lupita’s experience and engage the viewers in her story."