Nina Davalos

Media Arts & Sciences major

In my art practice, I archive the emotional landscape of separation and connection, specifically within familial memory. Since leaving home for college, I have deeply longed for my family's presence - a longing that feels more complex than words can articulate. Through my mixed media installations, I materialize the comfort and yearnings that symbolize my relationship with home. I hope to create space for shared experiences of family, and I invite viewers to reflect on their own familial relationships.

Juntos

digital audio and video, televisions in wooden frames, found items

Jewett Sculpture Court

4 CRT TVs in wooden boxes draped with colorful fabrics and small objects; a rug and headphones sit in front of the installation on an off white terrazzo floor

As a child, my family would gather around a large box television during dinners. We spoke and laughed, and our eyes would always end up glued to the screen with whatever film was playing. In Juntos, I recreate the gathering-aspect from my youth and invite viewers to peek into video montages. I show camcorder footage from the late 90s and early 2000s, from when my parents first met to when my brother and I were born. The piece encapsulates a passage of time through two generations, as well as stories that continue to be told in new ways.

4 CRT TVs in wood frames surrounded by small objects; top left is a small TV showing white text on blue; top right is a medium-small TV showing blue with a single thick white stripe; bottom left is a larger TV showing home footage of a little girl jumping on a bed; bottom right is a medium large TV showing home footage of a woman in graduation regalia hugging a man in a t-shirt

close up on the corner of a wood frame around a CRT TV with a very small polaroid photo of a child holding a big orange striped cat labeled at the bottom * 1/15/18 *

close up of stack of books, including one titled 'I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER', with a guardian angle votive candle, small round pink frame with black and white photo of a tabby cat, and tarot-type card

Blue Dregs

cyanotype prints on canvas

Jewett Sculpture Court

four blue and white cyanotype prints of family photos on loose fabric hung on a gray fabric wall

In Blue Dregs, I focus on the nostalgic, fading memories of childhood. Using cyanotype prints on thin and porous cotton, viewers are invited to look deeper at the imagery before them and identify the faces in the fabric. "Dregs" are often considered the last part of something, like coffee grounds leftover in a mug. Here, I identify dregs as the fleeting memories we have from our childhood as we age.

four cyanotype prints on fabric on a gray wall at left; at right on the floor are 4 CRT TVs in wood boxes with a rug in front of them, covered in colorful textiles and small objects. A short staircase is to the right

to see more work by Nina: ninadavalos.cargo.site/

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