Desahogamiento, literally translated as “the act or process of undrowning,” has always been with me. My mother would describe desahogamiento as the self-directed, embodied "grief work" which makes healing possible. But it wasn’t until reading “Woman Who Glows in the Dark” by curandera Elena Avila that I learned desahogamiento is a literal healing technique within curanderismo, or Mexican folk medicine. My practice is centered in the union of intuitive ways of knowing (particularly dreamwork and storytelling), our changing climate realities, and the role of art as a somatic healing technology. In this, my paintings manifest from the act of undrowning.
-- Elsa Muñozis a Mexican-American artist born and raised in Chicago (1983). She received her BFA in oil painting from the American Academy of Art in 2006. She's since had 8 solo shows including one at the National Museum of Mexican Art (2011) and at the Union League Club of Chicago (2016) along with several group shows throughout the United States. She was recently awarded the Helen and Tim Meier Foundation For The Arts Achievement Award (2019). Notable collections include the National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), North Park University (Chicago), and the private collections of Martin Castro, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2011- ) and Dolores Kunda, former president and CEO of Leo Burnett P.R. and Lápiz.