Artist Statement & Bio
ARTIST STATEMENT
My baby Aurora Annette died unexpectedly, three days after she and her identical twin sister were 2 months old. I alchemize my grief into colorful artwork, inspired by the Aurora Borealis. I dedicate all of my paintings to Aurora, and I process the complexities and layers of grief through my art.
My grief is intensified & compounded by my past trauma. For over 3 years, I struggled with infertility due to endometriosis stage 3. I had two invasive surgeries, 10 months apart. After which, I endured a cycle of in-vitro fertilization, leading to a high risk pregnancy & emergency c-section 7 weeks early. Because my babies were born premature, they stayed in the NICU for 1 month. After being home for a month, Aurora Annette didn't wake up and never would again. Her death was ruled as Sudden Unexplained Infant Death. My art has become the primary outlet for my grief and emotions in losing my baby so unexpectedly.
Light and dark, although total opposites, coexist in nature. Similarly, joy and grief can coexist after the death of your child. My grief journey and my art practice have become intertwined and inform each other. Painting every single day allows me to explore, express, and externalize the emotions and trauma from losing Aurora, from no longer being a twin mom, and from the ways Endometriosis and infertility have impacted my life.
However, it’s in realizing we need both light and dark to live a full and complete life. You need to acknowledge the presence and necessity of the dark, in order to see the stars. The optimal light conditions for seeing the Aurora Borealis are far from bright city lights, in the darkest regions of the Arctic. Just as in order to truly see the colorshift in my artwork, you must endure the darkness of my grief.
Artist Bio
Angelina Salgado is visual artist and art educator, based in NJ. The eldest daughter of Filipino immigrants, Angelina was born and raised in New York. She received her AAS in Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, pursued a double major in Art History and Studio Art at Hunter College, then earned her Master’s degree in Art and Museum Education from the City College of New York. She has taught in several art museums and cultural institutions across NYC, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. She brought her eclectic experience in art and museum education to the elementary art classroom.
She started as the visual arts teacher, first, at a Harlem charter school, followed by two public elementary PK-4 schools in Morris County, NJ, and now at a PK-6 school in Bergen County.
Angelina is living out her childhood dreams as a professional artist and has exhibited her artwork in galleries and pop up art events in New York City and across Northern NJ.