Antonia Gallegos,
Sculptor

“It’s been exciting collaborating on “Las Madres.”
On my land in Arivaca, I have  found evidence of
people who have crossed the border under the
cover of darkness and I have seen the women
in long skirts. My heart goes out to them.”

Antonia Gallegos

Antonia Gallegos is an intuitive sculptor who is essentially self taught. It wasn’t until her fifties after she had raised three children as a single mother that Antonia began to honor her inborn talent and started to sculpt in earnest. Her sculpted figures of women are a natural extension of Antonia herself; feminine and strong.

Gallegos is a 58 yr old native of the Sonoran Desert region of Southern Arizona. Her mother and father were from the old Spanish settlements of northern New Mexico and Spanish is her first language.

“Due to economic need, we had to join the large number of migrant families, mostly Mexican braceros, who followed the harvest to make a living,” says Gallegos.  

When her family settled in Southeastern Arizona, they built a small adobe house with the help of neighbors. Though poor, the artist’s earliest childhood memories were happy ones. She remembers the joy she felt as she made her own toys from adobe clay. 

“My upbringing was Catholic. I loved the paintings on the church walls, the pictures in our family bible, & the altar sculptures and I see the Catholic influence now in my art,” she says.   

Gallegos’ sculptures have a powerful presence that is felt as much as seen by the onlooker. The pure simplicity of form she manages to achieve in her figures - a rare accomplishment even among the masters - resonates with everyone who sees her work. Then there is the work itself; a mestiza blend of Indian and Mexican influences; primitive and sophisticated, earthen and elegant. One can’t help feel the ghosts of the old ones in Antonia Gallegos’ figurative work. Her sculptures are a revelation in a contemporary world.

More examples of Antonia’s work can be seen at AntoniaGallegos.com