Through collages built from paper and fiber, Clotilde Jim\u0000e9nez assembles a personal topography of lineage and place. The Mexico City-based artist was born in Honolulu to a Puerto Rican mother and African-American father, grew up in Philadelphia, and attended university in Cleveland and London. His works fold together references from the cultural and political contexts of these locales, using magazine clippings, Mexican craft paper, fabrics, and other pliable materials to construct dense portraits of family alongside archetypal depictions of Blackness and masculinity.<\/p>\n
Fragments of burlap and thin woven strips course through \u001cChina de Mayag\u0000fcez\u001d (2026), an autobiographical piece portraying a young Jim\u0000e9nez with his family member Juan. Rendered as a j\u0000edbaro<\/em>, Juan evokes the subsistence farming traditions of Puerto Rico. The pair pick oranges while monarchs flutter among the fruits, the collage materials amplifying the scene\u0019s tactile immediacy. A woven hat reappears in \u001cThe Nightcall\u001d (2025), worn by a woman bathed in the blue light of darkness, flanked by black birds with shiny plumage and blooming cacti as a bouquet hangs from her hand.<\/p>\n Fresh blooms also anchor the Flower Portal<\/strong> series\u0014circular works that draw on Dutch still life paintings. Fish, faces, and beams of light punctuate the lush bouquets, referencing both the fleeting nature of life and humble joys. Among the works shown are \u001cFlower Portal 1\u001d (2026), \u001cFlower Portal 2\u001d (2026), \u001cInvitation to the Altar\u001d (2026), \u001cLos Varones\u001d (2026), and \u001cThe Nightcall\u001d (2025).<\/p>\n For this body of work, Jim\u0000e9nez turns to silences and what\u0019s left unsaid within a family, especially the secrets children aren\u0019t privy to. He has described the pieces as visualizing a \u001crevelation\u001d that offered insight into a history of abuse. As he explains: \u001cMy grandmother, when I was an adult, randomly was like I need to tell you something, and she told me that my grandfather was not my real grandfather. It is actually his brother, the one who kind of looked out for you and raised you. Everything made sense. I\u0019m not making excuses for abuse, but I\u0019m seeing it a little bit more objectively now, why certain things were said, why certain things were done, why certain things were ignored. So the show is really about silence and how that forms us from a young age.\u001d<\/p>\n The collages are included in \u001c\u0000c9ramos silencios\u001d\u0014which translates to \u001cwe were silent\u001d\u0014on view through October 31 at Marianne Ibrahim\u0019s Chicago gallery.<\/p>\nSilence, revelation, and family histories<\/h2>\n