Blooming Love - Ongoing Exhibition

"Blooming Love" features new work by Artist-In-Residence Alejandra Yuja Vaquiz and will be displayed in our Community Darkroom Gallery until November 22. "Blooming Love" explores love, growth, and transformation. My pieces represent the limbo between beginnings and endings that manifest in our path through life. Each piece is an ode to the enlightenment that comes from our journey and the memories we carry with us. My inner world is brought out to highlight the community and nature that surrounds us, feeds us, and guides us. When contemplating my initial move to Rochester, it felt like everything was falling apart. Writing and drawing became my comfort, my escape, a way to free my head of complicated feelings I couldn’t place into words yet. Despite my insecurities, life kept sending me signs that this period would help me bloom and evolve into something new. Blooming became a mantra that helped me document these changes through pen and paper, transforming fear, anxiety, and stress into something beautiful. The shapes take form as I let my subconscious guide my hand through the page, making the process a meditative and healing practice. "To the heart, that grows, regardless" - a.y.v. Alejandra Yuja Vaquiz is a Honduran multidisciplinary artist whose mediums include fashion design, printmaking, embroidery, and more. She earned a B.F.A. in Fashion Design from Miami International University of Art and Design. During college, she started her brand, AYUVA, and sold her designs through markets and personal clients. Her work has been featured in Miami Swim Week fashion shows and published in Avessa Magazine and WGSN. After finishing her studies, she visited Rochester, NY, while planning her next steps. Having fallen in love with the city, she applied to the Printmaking & Book Arts residency at Flower City Arts Center and initiated her move. Simultaneously, she initiated a chain-stitch apprenticeship at Golden Supply Co. Under both organizations, she expanded on her art, taught classes, met the city’s artist network, and participated in several gallery exhibitions. Upon her year of work authorization ending, Yuja returned to Honduras to set her roots in her home country and focus on her brand AYUVA. She is currently opening up a store in Siguatepeque, where she will offer her designs and services and create a space where local artists can showcase and sell their work. This event is free and open to the public. We look forward to seeing you at 713 Monroe Ave!