Patricia Schnall Gutierrez: Remember Me

Memories, like identities, are hardly ever linear and absolute. Rather, they are nuanced, imperfect, and layered. We experience a myriad of personal and social influences that help shape and reshape our identities over time. Multidisciplinary artist Patricia Schnall Gutierrez considers how disjointed memories inform identity and broader perceptions of femininity. Remember Me interrogates imposed roles of femininity while infusing the artist’s narratives as a woman, artist, mother, and wife. 

The artist mines histories, acknowledging how the past informs the present to create what she considers “a contemporary chronicle of life interwoven with memories of joy, sorrow, growth, and introspection.” Fragmentation is a continuous theme as Schnall Gutierrez ponders the relationship between material, form, and outcome. 

References to domestic chores throughout her work address the underlying strain of traditional feminine roles and the experiences they entail. Erased in the Wash (2013), which combines a sprawling 200-foot washing machine hose with audio of water luring the viewer to “come closer,” is one such example. Fabrics are another recurring motif that nods to the history of textiles as an integral part of women’s labor. Sleepwalk (2013) illustrates the “restless dream of a midlife housewife” projected on folded sheets. Turning inward, she signals tension between her roles as a wife and mother and as an artist, and the loss of self under the pressure of fulfilling both external duties and internal passions in the series Self Portraits with Polka Dots (2012). 

Schnall Gutierrez’s practice recognizes and moves fluidly beyond imposed constructions of femininity. Whether these assumed and imposed roles are critiqued or embraced, fostering a dialogue that allows for a multitude of voices to be affirmed is vital. Power lies in asserting space for women to define and honor the unique experiences that shape their lives on their terms. As contemporary threats to women’s autonomy continue to loom, such conversations remind us of the progress made toward all people’s equity and what is at stake, making them more necessary than ever. 

Patricia Schnall Gutierrez: Remember Me is presented through the support of an anonymous donor, and also through the generous gifts of Rachel & Scott Stenclik and Flora Schnall & Up-Wingers, Inc. For his additional support, we gratefully acknowledge Harvey Traison. And, as always, none of what we do would be possible without the continued generosity of our Burchfield Penney members.