Consuelo Jimenez Underwood American, b. 1949

Biography

Consuelo Jimenez Underwood was born in Sacramento, CA, the daughter of migrant agricultural workers, a Chicana mother and a father of Huichol Indian descent. During this time, Jimenez Underwood developed her unique tri-cultural perspective: Chicana/Indigenous/American. Using this voice, Jimenez Underwood interweaves themes and imagery that reflect and revisit social memories. In the artist's words, “Over thirty years ago, when ‘craft vs. art' was the most divisive issue in the arts, I discovered and established my 'authentic artistic voice,' and refocused my artistic studies from the paintbrush and pigments to needle and thread. Empowered by the voices of my Indigenous maternal ancestors, I began to cross the intellectual borders that separated the hand and the mind (craft) from the spirit (fine art). My work reflects personal border experiences: the interconnectedness of societies, insisting on beauty in the struggle, and celebrating the notion of seeing this world through my tri-cultural lens.”

 

Jimenez Underwood received her BA and MA from San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. In 1987, she received an MFA in Art from San Jose University, San Jose, California, where she immediately assumed the role of Professor and Director of the Fiber Art Department for over two decades. 


In 2022, the artist was awarded the Latinx Artist Fellowship, a first-of-its-kind initiative that recognizes 15 of the most compelling Latinx visual artists working in the United States today.  Her work is the subject of Consuelo Jimenez Underwood: Art, Weaving, Vision, a comprehensive analysis of her work and impact on feminist textile art history published by Duke University Press. Jimenez Underwood has also participated in numerous notable group exhibitions, such as Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección, El Museo Del Barrio, New York, NY; and Open Ended: SFMOMA’s Collection 1900 to Now, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA. She has been featured and reviewed in publications like Hyperallergic and The New York Times. In 2024, guest curator Beverly Adams selected her for the Artpace San Antonio International Artist-in-Residence program. Recently, her work has been acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, among others.

Works
  • Manahatta Rain Song (wall installation)
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Manahatta Rain Song (wall installation), 2023
    Acrylic paint, pastel, colored aluminum wire, leather barbed wire, nails
    12 x 12 feet
  • Quatlique, Can You See Matchuk?
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Quatlique, Can You See Matchuk?, 2023
    Sewn, painted, embroidered, pinned. Cotton flag, oilcloth, paint, paper, safety pins, fabric, cotton and synthetic threads
    111 x 64 in
    281.9 x 162.6 cm
  • Tree Sighting, Zapata
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Tree Sighting, Zapata, 2023
    Woven, stitched, mixed media. Linen, cotton, metallic threads. Fabric, leather barbed wire, safety pins
    39 x 12 in
    99.1 x 30.5 cm
  • VDG Rebozo Detail
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    VDG Rebozo Detail, 2023
    Woven, painted, stitched. Linen, cotton, synthetic threads, copper wire, CAUTION tape, leather barbed wire, silk fabric
    67 x 29 in
    170.2 x 73.7 cm
  • Me, Myself, and I
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Me, Myself, and I, 2022
    Silkscreen on Rives paper, ten runs, stitched with synthetic threads
    Coronado Print Studio
    22 x 30 in
    55.9 x 76.2 cm
    Edition of 34, 2 AP, 2 TP
  • Broken: 13 Undocumented Birds
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Broken: 13 Undocumented Birds, 2021
    Woven and stitched. Wire, linen, cotton and metallic threads
    70 x 47 in
    177.8 x 119.4 cm
  • American Foods: Corn, Bean, Squash
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    American Foods: Corn, Bean, Squash, 2019
    Woven, pinned. Cotton fabric, natural and synthetic fibers, leather barbed wire, safety pins, buttons, and glass beads
    19 x 45 in each, 63 x 45 in total
    48.3 x 114.3 cm each, 160 x 114.3 cm in total
  • Woody, My Dad and Me
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Woody, My Dad and Me, 2018
    Woven wire, linen, metallic and cotton thread
    49 x 17 each (49 x 51 in)
    124.5 x 43.2 cm
  • One Nation Underground
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    One Nation Underground, 2013
    Stitched, embroidered. Nylon, cotton, silk fabric; leather; cotton thread
    56 x 90 in
    142.24 x 228.6 cm
  • Campesino Silk Flag
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Campesino Silk Flag, 2009
    Tapestry, frame loom. Wire, cotton bandanas, dupont silk, linen
    29 x 11 in
    73.7 x 27.9 cm
  • Border Flowers Flag
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Border Flowers Flag, 2008
    Stitched, embroidered, silkscreened over dyed recycled cotton and silk fabrics. Silk, cotton embroidery threads
    56 x 23 in
    142.2 x 58.4 cm
  • Undocumented Tortilla Basket
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Undocumented Tortilla Basket, 2008
    Kentucky barbed wired, aluminum, and steel wire
    9 x 29 in diameter
    22.9 x 73.7 cm
  • Tortillas del Norte
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Tortillas del Norte, 2005
    Painted oilcloth with acrylic paint and safety pins on cotton canvas
    79 x 56 in
    200.7 x 142.2 cm
  • Virgen de los Nopales
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Virgen de los Nopales, 2005
    Silkscreen on Coventry paper, stitched with cotton and synthetic threads, Self-Help Graphics, LA.
    20 x 26 in
    50.8 x 66.04 cm
    Edition of 72
  • Mendocino Rebozo
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Mendocino Rebozo, 2004
    Silkscreen on dyed fabric, safety pins, glass beads and barbed wire
    68 x 17 in
    172.7 x 43.2 cm
  • Sunset Rebozo
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Sunset Rebozo, 2004
    Silkscreen on dyed fabric, safety pins, glass beads and barbed wire
    75 x 18 in
    190.5 x 45.7 cm
  • American Dress. Virgen de Tepin (Chili)
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    American Dress. Virgen de Tepin (Chili), 1999
    Stitched, silkscreened, painted, embroidered. Silk velvet, gold wire, barbed wire, textile paint
    56 x 34 in
    142.2 x 86.4 cm
  • Mi Oro, Tu Amor
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Mi Oro, Tu Amor, 1994
    Painted, wrapped, embroidered, stitched. Cotton canvas, silk fabric, barbed wire, gold wire, paint, corn, and bean kernels
    48 x 51 in
    121.9 x 129.5 cm
  • Resistencia Yaqui
    Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
    Resistencia Yaqui, 1992
    Loom woven in three panels. Painted, mixed media. Linen, cotton, synthetic threads. Paper, textile paint, leather barbed wire
    72 x 46 in
    182.9 x 116.8 cm
Press
Exhibitions
Publications
Art Fairs