Artist Denise Lecusay kicked off her new exhibit “Crowns: Studies in Allegory” at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art where she portrays themes such as symbolism and iconography on her art pieces.
“It is an exhibit about symbolism and iconography and about just showing light and who these people were just as people, as human beings, instead of the embellished idea that we at times carry. Who they were really, what they went through and their life stories,” she said.
Lecusay said for her art pieces she finds the inspiration on research that she does, on different stories she reads and added that sometimes includes important themes such as mental health.
“I like reading and I like mental health and mental health awareness because that’s what I’m studying,” she said. “I personally am getting my master’s in clinical psychology so that I can unite these two loves and create sort of an art therapy community so that way I could also help the community.”
The artist said that even though the art field is male-dominated, female artists in the community always have each other’s back and are hopeful things will be more equal soon.
“I do see a trend that it is a male-dominated field, but I have experienced getting my art denied because it was too strong or too visually impactful at times,” she said.
“I do get a lot of support from other female artists and I think that this community at the end of the day, they do have each other’s back as far as females. But I would like to see more progressive, things that are more risky and less traditional. Things that bring more awareness to different subjects such as mental health and social constructs.”
Deyanira Ramirez, executive director at the museum, said this exhibit is very different and very interesting. She said it is important to support female artists and give them spaces like this one to exhibit their work for the community.
“It’s important to support women in every month of the year, especially this month that we commemorate women. We need to give spaces to women because they deserve them, too,” she said.
“I respect both sexes but I would like to mention that without planning for it, today, International Women’s Day, we are exhibiting and interviewing a female artist at the museum.”
Ramirez said she invites the community to attend the exhibit with an open mind and added the museum is open to the public and following all safety protocols for COVID-19.
