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Leticia Vieyra (Ensenada, B.C.N., Mexico) creates her work using natural materials collected from diverse geographies, materials that visibly bear the effects of time: nearly disintegrated leaves, pieces of trees, dry branches, roots, seeds… She intervenes in them subtly, emphasizing their organic texture, their fragility or strength, their simplicity or complexity. She assembles them with fabricated materials such as paper, metal, and resin, placing the final work on the fine line between “found object” and “constructed object.”
Her work stems from a methodical and affectionate admiration for nature, from which she extracts aesthetic meaning. In addition to being an artist, she is trained as a medical surgeon—an education that brings with it a deep appreciation for biological processes and an understanding of human intervention in them. As such, her work also becomes an aesthetic meditation on the organic and its most immediate connotations: life, nature, harmony, and function.
Through compositions, installations, prints, and assemblages, the artist constructs “hybrid objects” in which a complex play of dualities unfolds: the plastic and the vegetal, the cultural and the natural, the ephemeral and the perennial. In her own words:
“I believe that by turning them into works of art, those seemingly insignificant materials are transformed into pieces of contemplation, uniting in a single work the principle of life: destruction and rebirth.”
Leticia Vieyra
Place of Birth: Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Professional Studies
1988–1991 National School of Visual Arts, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
1992–1993 Master’s Degree in Visual Arts, National School of Visual Arts, UNAM
Medical Degree with a specialization in Pediatrics, UNAM
Solo Exhibitions
1992 From the Caves to the Display Case, Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Centro Cultural Universitario
1993 Rooted Light, Former Palace of Mining
1994 Rituals to the Earth, San Carlos Academy
1994 Itinerant Rituals, Copilco Metro Station
1995 Rituals, Earth, Universidad Iberoamericana
1996 Of Bark and Leaf Litter, National School of Visual Arts
1997 Of Bark and Leaf Litter, Zapata Metro Station
1997 Art-Object/Jewelry Exhibit, Pladi Gallery, Polanco
1997 Of Bark and Leaf Litter, German Club of Mexico
1997 Organic Origin, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico
1998 Rituals to the Earth, Universum Science Museum, UNAM
1998 Art Object Collection 98, Pladi Gallery, Altavista
2000 Collection 2000, Executive Tower, PEMEX
2001 Return to the Origin, Tijuana Cultural Center
2001 Supernatural, Mexican Culture Seminar
2001 Botany 450, Palace of Mining, UNAM
2004 Between Heaven and Earth, Inaugural Event, Torre Mayor
2006 Recent Works, Lo Alto, Bosque Real, State of Mexico
2006 Open Studio, Artist’s Studio, Tepepan
2007 Africa-America, Open Space, San Antonio, Acopilco
2007 Pecan Festival, Pecan Street, Austin, Texas, USA
2008 Husk Adaptation, Van Wouw Museum, University of Pretoria, South Africa
2008 Colors, Scents, and Flavors of Mexico, Room 22, Borges Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2009 Germinations, Mexican Culture Seminar
2009 Recent Works, Gallery at Mexico City International Airport
2010 Chocolade op het spoor, Mechelen, Belgium
2010 The Tree. Fragments, German Club of Mexico
Group Exhibitions (Selected)
1989 Expoconciert, German Club of Mexico
1990 Annual Group Show, German Club of Mexico
1991 From Painting to Object, National School of Visual Arts, UNAM
1992 Art Showcas*, German Club of Mexico
1993 Angels, 9th Historic Center Festival, San Carlos
1994 The Sun and the Moon, 9th Historic Center Festival, San Carlos
1995 Jumps and Somersaults, Contemporary Plastic Arts Galleries
1996 Korima, Tarahumara, Azteca TV, Telethon
1996 The Exposed Gaze, Casa del Poeta
1997 International Women’s Week, SECOFI
1997 Modernity, 12th Historic Center Festival
1997 Women Artists, Christ Church
1998 Women in Art, ITESM, State of Mexico Campus
1998 The City, 13th Historic Center Festival
1998 Nutrition Biennial, Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Nutrition
1999 Summer Solstice, Pladi Gallery, Altavista, Mexico
1999 World Environment Day, Government of Mexico City
1999 Apocalypse and Ubottom, 14th Historic Center Festival, Mexico City
1999 Gallery Showcase, Galerie 13 Weingasse, Germany
2000 The Imagined City, Metro Transit System
2000 The Line of Art, Biennial by CONACULTA and INBA, Siqueiros Cultural Polyforum (Itinerant exhibition throughout Mexico)
2000 Art Showcase, National Institute of Nutrition
2000 Northern Painting Exhibition, Biennial by INBA and CONACULTA (Itinerant exhibition throughout Mexico)
2001 The Secret of the Arcanes, Ofelia Murrieta Gallery
2001 The Secret of the Arcanes, Central Gallery, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
2001 Artistic Memories, El Sol Hall, German Club of Mexico
2001 Mexico–Ireland, University College Cork, Ireland
2001 Ibero-American Cultural Identity, Palacio del Segundo Cabo, Cuba
2001 Defenders of Our Identity, Chapultepec Park, Naucalpan
2002 Masters of Art, German Club of Mexico
2002 Fragile Natur, Universum Science Museum
2002 Rough and Technica*, Gallery 3
2003 Pedaling, KO Arte
2003 Masters of Art, German Club of Mexico
2003 Without Corn, There Is No Country, Museum of Popular Cultures
2003 Bottles to the Earth, Itinerant show, France
2004 The Most Beautiful Flower of the Ejido, Ecological Park, Xochimilco
2004 Woman, Flower and Landscape, Legislative Assembly, D.F.
2004 Bottles to the Earth, Itinerant show, France
2005 World Exhibition, Mexico Pavilion, Expo Aichi, Nagoya, Japan
2008 Bag Factory, Fordsburg Artists’ Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010 MEXICO: Second Art Festival, Navarro-Valdez Gallery, Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico
2010 THREE DIMENSIONS: Poetics of Spatiality, Navarro-Valdez Gallery, Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico
Awards and Honors
1997 1st Place, Annual Visual Arts Exhibition, German Club of Mexico
1998 Selected, National Institute of Nutrition Biennial
2000 Honorable Mention, Northern Painting Exhibition Biennial
2000 Selected, Biennial of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition
2000 2nd Place, Category B, The Line of Art Biennial, CONACULTA, ROCHE, INBA
Works in Public and Private Collections
Large-format organic sculpture Weaving Flavors, in the “Harvesting the Sun” room, Universum Science Museum, UNAM
Large-format sculpture Mexican Food, in the “Harvesting the Sun” room, Universum Science Museum, UNAM
Bas-relief painting All Alive, in the “Little Science House” at the Universum Science Museum, UNAM
Sculptures and bas-relief paintings Vegetal and Stone, for the entrance lobby of the German Club of Mexico
Large-format sculpture Harvesting the Sun, for the Fibers Room at the Universum Science Museum, UNAM
Large-format sculpture We Are Stardust, for the Universe by Day Room at the Universum Science Museum, UNAM
Large-format sculpture The Goddess of the Milpa, at the Memorial Museum, Aichi, Nagoya, Japan
Wall painting intervention Sarape, Lo Alto Building, Bosque Real, Huixquilucan, State of Mexico
Large-format sculpture Mexico Gate, for CNPAMM (National Confederation of Mexican Corn Producers)
Sculpture-assemblage Branches, Van Wouw Museum, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Other Activities
1978–1981 University professor at the Faculty of Medicine, UNAM
1999–2003 Member of a private institution’s Cultural and Arts Board
2000–2001 Resident Artist at Universum Science Museum, UNAM
2001–2009 Member of the Board of the Mexican Federation of Art and Culture in Sports
2003 Editor of the children’s art catalog What Children Think About…
2004 Creator of 30 giant puppets for the Civic-Sports Parade (Nov 20) in Mexico City
2003–2009 Designed installations, museographies, and environmental works for museums and public spaces
2007–2009 Artistic Director for Eugenia Linens Company, Texas, USA
2008 Artist-in-residence at Bag Factory, Fordburg Artists’ Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
Has delivered conferences, courses, and workshops in Mexico and abroad
Has served as a juror by invitation for various visual arts competitions