Patricia Mejía Contreras (July 7, 1958 – April 20, 2007) was a Mexican sculptor and graphic artist whose work was recognized with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Life

Mejía was born in Uruapan,

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

and had her first experiences with art at a regional school. Later, she enrolled in Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" in 1977, then at the Taller de Fundición Artística of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBA), where she studied from 1982-1983. She died in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

at the age of 48.

Career

Mejía began her career by moving to Mexico City to study and collaborating as an illustrator with the cultural supplement of the newspaper El Nacional as well as in the illustration department of the newspaper El Universal. She also worked in art restoration with the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público and the Centro de Conservación de Obras Artísticas of INBA. In particular she worked with the collections from the Museo Nacional de la Estampa, the Taller de Gráfica Popular, the Academia de Artes and works done by Manual Manilla and José Guadalupe Posada. She also worked on the documentation and restoration of works by Pablo O'Higgins. She participated in numerous collective exhibitions during her career, but had only six individual ones, the last being ''Atrás la obscuridad sigo el vuelo del Ave Fénix'' at the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, into which she was inducted in 2000. In 2001, she founded the sculpting workshop called ''La Nave de los Desarraigados'', dedicated to the creation of sculptures in bronze, aluminum, marble, basalt, sandstone and wood.

Artistry

The study of the human figure is a constant in her work showing the influence of artists such as

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

and

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

. However, her work recomposes their classic styles and is more Expressionistic. Faces often show primitive emotions and hand positions also indicate attitude and situations, generally a moment captured in a scene.

References

1958 births 2007 deaths Mexican sculptors Artists from Michoacán People from Uruapan 20th-century Mexican sculptors 20th-century Mexican women artists Women printmakers 20th-century Mexican printmakers Mexican women sculptors {{Mexico-sculptor-stub