Courtesy the Artist
Paper Innovations
Local artist Valerie Rangel takes Mexican folk art into new realms
In Mexico, no party is complete without three things: music, flowers and papel picado. Papel picado is a traditional folk art (it literally translates to ‘perforated paper’) made by carving designs into colorful paper sheets, which are often hung as banners or canopied over streets and markets in Mexican cities and villages.
The craft has roots in ancient Chinese traditions, as well as the pre-Columbian new world, where the Aztec cut figures into paper made from tree bark to create flags and banners for rituals and celebrations. The Spanish then introduced the tissue paper, which inspired what it has become today. And while traditions are important to celebrate in their preserved forms, innovations keep the art form interesting. Enter local artist Valerie Rangel.
Rangel was introduced to silhouette paper-cutting in high school and was immediately hooked.
“I discovered I really like working with an X-acto knife,” she says. “It was something that came naturally to me.”
Rangel recalls being a young girl harvesting cactus and wild plants with the women of her family. She quickly developed a skill for whittling the nopales to prepare them for cooking.
“Because I was such a small human at the time,” she explains, “my fingers would fit between the thorns and I could handle a knife pretty easily.”
Rangel continues to perfect those skills while experimenting with the creative potential of papel picado and symbolic interpretations in her upcoming exhibit, Heroes | Villains at form & concept. The show features hanging portraits of fictional and
historical characters such as Cesar Chavez, Che Guevara and the Joker, as well as activists such as Leonard Peltier and Reies Tijerina. Through these figures, Rangel says, she explores themes of morality, rebirth and destruction, plus society’s perspective of good and evil.
“The use of these characters—who can be seen as both heroes and villains—challenge the accepted narrative of their roles,” Rangel says. “It’s to make people think and to really question what they know about the characters and whether they’re black and white or ambiguous.” (Adam Ferguson)
Valerie Rangel: Heroes | Villains Opening Reception: 5-7 pm Friday, Oct. 25. Free. form + concept 435 S Guadalupe St., (505) 982-8111
Courtesy The Mystic
Mystical
In August, SFR’s food newsletter writer The Fork visited Mystic Echos at Santa Fe boutique hotel The Mystic—a five-course meal created by James Beard Award-winning chef Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota Sioux), aka The Sioux Chef, and executed by local chef Nicole Appels. A combination of Indigenous flavors and inter-tribal dance performances, the event was reportedly an excellent combination of arts. Now, with the weather growing ever-colder, there are scant few chances to catch the dinner and show, so we’ll advise getting while the getting’s good for dishes like black bean soup, three sisters salad and braised turkey or grilled trout, plus more. (Alex De Vore)
Mystic Echos: 6:30- 9 pm Thursday, Oct. 24. $64-$145 The Mystic, 2810 Cerrillos Road, (505) 471-7663
C. Stanley Photography
Driving the Dead
The spooky season need not be all about stone-cold terror when there are plenty of options for making it fun. Take, for example, Cebollas at the Santa Fe Playhouse. Written by Leonard Madrid and directed by Jesse Jou, Cebollas follows a trio of Latina sisters who must deliver a dead body from Albuquerque to Denver. Along the way, they’ll stop in notable New Mexico locations including Bernalillo and Santa Fe, all while indulging in the time-honored comedic tradition of a road trip setting. The show stars Christia Marton, Vanessa Rios y Valles and Cristina Vigil, and promises to be quite the romp for locals and non-locals alike. Aw, who are we kidding—it’ll probably be way more fun if you’re from around here. (ADV)
Cebollas: 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 24-Saturday, Oct. 26; 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 27. $3-$60. Santa Fe Playhouse,142 E De Vargas St., (505) 988-4262
Courtesy Meow Wolf
Some Last-Minute Halloween Inspo
With October 31 barrelling down upon us like some sort of careening ghost-filled ghost car, some folks are likely feeling the pressure of putting together a costume at the last minute. If you’ve made it this far without deciding, perhaps a trip to Meow Wolf’s Cosmic Howl Costume Show this week might help. In the lobby of the arts company’s House of Eternal Return exhibit, find various costumes created and used by Meow Wolf artists and performers. These are, at least according to Meow Wolf itself, some of their favorites. Even better, it’s free to visit during operating hours—though note that Cosmic Howl requires an RSVP through the website and does not include access to the rest of the exhibit. (ADV)
Cosmic Howl Costume Show: 11 am Friday, Oct. 25 and Monday, Oct. 28; 10 am Saturday, Oct. 26. Free Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369
