Enrique Mendía

Enrique Mendía was raised in the Cuban American diaspora of Miami and moved to Maine about five years ago. In Miami, the artist fell in love with stories—ones found in movies and others told by his grandparents.

In Maine, he began to experiment with making and telling tales through photographs, words, and film. His affection for fiction and for photography as a tool for documentation coalesce in Loveshack, a loose-leaf book about a love story.

Mendía wrote about this work: 

“Loveshack is the place where a relationship exists. That place is a physical location, a time, a memory, a song, and a feeling. It is never static, as a space between two people never can be. And this space is one of discovery—as we are both “strange to ourselves and to each other” [a quote from author Alexander Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel]—that we are just something other than that which we thought we were and weren’t, and they are too. Maybe, we are made innocent, if only briefly, as we feel that we are witnessing world-making because, maybe, that’s what it is. One that is strange, unknown, and exists beyond that which we have the capacity to imagine at one given moment, that which exists outside of the frame.”

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 “Mendía presents the story of his tryst with a lover he meets secretly in their own ‘Love Cave.’ Using only the humblest materials—construction paper, sharpie pen, and print-out images from snapshots—we learn of the couple’s awkward yearning for closeness and also their delight in a shared belief that ‘weird is good.’”

– Katherine Bradford, Untitled juror 

EXPLORE MORE ARTWORKS FROM UNTITLED, 2020

Featured
Rachel Church
Rachel Church

Rachel Church responds to her own lived experience to bring attention to issues that have more importance than first meets the eye, both politically and personally. In 2020, she responded to the lack of compassion and empathy exhibited toward other human beings in the United States with the creation of Seeing Red #2.

Evelyn Wong
Evelyn Wong

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Charles Schreiber
Charles Schreiber

In 2020, sculptor and furniture designer Charles Schreiber thought about making things that were compact, easy to transport, and mobile. He shared, “Nobody knows what’s going to happen. Things feel so insecure now for so many people that being able to pull up stakes quickly and move seems to be something to consider.”

veronica a perez
veronica a perez

Sculptor veronica a perez utilizes artificial hair and flowers as well as other kitschy materials that serve as personal and universal commentaries on contemporary Latinx issues. She explores the hybridization of ancestry, identity and culture as well as the fragile nature of beauty ideals in thought-provoking sculptures.

Titi de Baccarat
Titi de Baccarat

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Joshua Reiman
Joshua Reiman

A pile of dishes, a mashup of cultures and time periods—this installation of Joshua Reiman’s speaks to the long history of human oppression and colonization as embodied through food and serving vessels. Ironically, even as we try and wash away these stains, they remain and continue to live on.

Eleanor Kipping
Eleanor Kipping

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Celeste Henriquez 
Celeste Henriquez 

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Steve Bartlett
Steve Bartlett

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Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams

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Greta Bank
Greta Bank

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Henry Austin
Henry Austin

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Anna Dibble
Anna Dibble

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Deborah Wing-Sproul 
Deborah Wing-Sproul 

Performance artist and sculptor Deborah Wing-Sproul reflects on social, cultural, economic, and political inequities amplified by the events of 2020 in her new work, Meet me at the pool. This performance and sculpture are informed by community lockdowns and isolation as well as the tension between presence and absence. The swimming pool—a place of social exclusivity and a sign of wealth and leisure—is the starting point of investigation.

Christopher Dudley
Christopher Dudley

Christopher Dudley based this quilt off an infographic about government benefits in The New York Times on February 12, 2012. The United States map illustrates areas (based on a state’s counties) that rely or don’t rely on government benefits. Dudley found it saddening that the U.S., supposedly the richest nation of the world, has such disparity between rich and poor and that social programs for helping people in need are viewed so divisively. He turned to quilting to convey his dismay.

Rosamond Gross
Rosamond Gross

Like many families in 2020, Gross’ family life shifted when the pandemic hit Maine. During these six months together, Gross felt the ordinary and extraordinary weave together: a birthday celebration, the Fourth of July, a Black Lives Matter protest and march organized by students at South Portland High School, among others.

Gregory Jamie
Gregory Jamie

We find mythic beings, whose bodily forms are androgynous or otherwise unspecified, caught in nightmarish landscapes—some wear masks and tease animals, others float in rivers or baths, perhaps conversing with spirits.

Enrique Mendía
Enrique Mendía

In Maine, Enrique Mendía began to experiment with making and telling tales through photographs, words, and film. His affection for fiction and for photography as a tool for documentation coalesce in Loveshack, a loose-leaf book about a love story.

Meghan Mitchell
Meghan Mitchell

Meghan Mitchell identifies as an artist, a woman, daughter, sister, and more recently, mother. Her photography explores the meaning and significance of universal human interactions and experiences by recreating moments and inserting herself into them.

Elijah Ober
Elijah Ober

Elijah Ober’s video practice honors small creatures as proxies of encompassing ecosystems and histories. In his work, the artist co-opts, subverts, and reveres the slippery power of digital images to embody themselves and alter our physical and social structures.

Ashley Page
Ashley Page

In her work, Ashley Page explores the vulnerability, grace, and complexities of the Black experience. She believes art is a vessel used to present larger conversations about representation and visibility of the African American image, intellect, and spirit. Employing paper, fiber, and steel in her work, she envisions a world where individuals are given the autonomy to represent themselves.

Julie Poitras Santos
Julie Poitras Santos

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Sally Stanton
Sally Stanton

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Giles Timms
Giles Timms

Giles Timms, a digital artist based in Orono, Maine, combines media and genres into hybrid art. His work borrows from current events, specifically the terrific and terrifying absurdities of modern life, and he translates his impressions into wistful, animated films. In each animation, Timms casts a leading protagonist, or “Creep” as he refers to them, into environments that possess a familiarity with local settings yet equally surreal architecture.

ARRT! (Artists’ Rapid Response Team!)
ARRT! (Artists’ Rapid Response Team!)

Artists’ Rapid Response Team! (also known as ARRT!) is a collective of year-round members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA). UMVA is dedicated to upholding the dignity of artists, while creating positive social change through the arts.

Graeme Kennedyuntitled artists