REBECCA NAVA SOTO
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Rebecca Nava Soto is a Xicanx-Latinx multidisciplinary artist and educator born in Chicago, IL, to Mexican immigrant parents. She explores a diverse range of mediums including mixed media painting, digital media, and ephemeral installations, synthesizing ancient and modern traditions in her art. Her work draws from Mesoamerican-inspired materials, writing systems, language, and ritual practices to address contemporary issues through a Xicanx lens.
Nava Soto earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA in Painting from Boston University. Dissatisfied with the eurocentric art historical focus of traditional art education, she immersed herself in Indigenous PreColumbian Art History courses as an undergraduate and studied indigenous Mesoamerican Glyphic writing systems during graduate school in Boston. Her journey has taken her to Maya and Nahuas lands in Mexico, and more recently, to engage with indigenous communities such as Weeminuche, Navajo, Abenaki, and Mohican lands in the United States.
In addition to her studio practice, Rebecca Nava Soto is a dedicated art educator at local universities and art schools, where she also serves as a lead artist for public art initiatives. She extends her commitment to community engagement through Maya glyphic writing workshops and by providing art-making and exhibition opportunities for the Latinx/Xicanx immigrant community in Cincinnati and Kentucky, emphasizing collaborative approaches.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a multidisciplinary Xicanx-Latinx artist, I use sculptural paintings and ephemeral installations to explore themes of writing/iconography, language, and ritual. My work threads into the continuum of Indigenous American art history within a contemporary cultural framework, drawing from Mesoamerican glyphic writing systems and early experiences making art within the Midwest immigrant communities where I grew up. Materials and accompanying rituals such as colorful tissue paper for piñatas, Mexican paper flowers, and papel picado, alongside collectively crafted wood shavings and natural material (alfombras/ephemeral floor art installations) during holidays and religious celebrations, hold origins predating European influences.
In an act of decolonization and reconnection, I draw from the roots and worldviews of ancient and contemporary indigenous Mexico, encompassing my Nahuas, Maya, and Purepecha ancestry, interweaving them with the broader Xicanx perspective and contemporary issues. My recent projects also aim to raise awareness and garner public support for contemporary indigenous regeneration initiatives in the United States and Mexico.
In the studio, I enter a state of heightened perception where time and distance collapse. Material and research operate at a hinge point with a self-generating element, revealing a mediumistic relationship through art. Despite colonialism's efforts, our ancestors' spirits live on through us. Art brings forth what is hidden beneath the surface, revealing sustenance that can guide, heal, and empower us individually and collectively.
CV
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
The Gift, Wavepool Gallery, Camp Washington, OH November 2022
Truth and Inspiration Cincinnati Art Museum, Tepozanilli Series, July -August 2022
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center:
Truth and Reconciliation showcase July-September 2021
Artworks Artist Exhibition, 1305 Gallery (Cincinnati, Ohio) July 2017
Duke Energy Gallery, Siete Artistas (Cincinnati, Ohio) September 2011
Pearlman Gallery, AAC Faculty Exhibition (Cincinnati, Ohio) January 2010
Cincinnati Museum Center, Descent to Xibabalba. (Cincinnati, Ohio) November 2009
Miami University Art Museum, Bicentennial Exhibition(Oxford, Ohio) November 2008
Madisonville Art Center, Mural Inauguration Exhibition (Cincinnati, Ohio) August 2007
Miami University, Heistand Galleries, Faculty Exhibition(Oxford, Ohio) October 2006
Milton Art Museum, Selected Paintings (Milton, Massachusetts) January 2005
NAS Gallery, New England Artists (Brooklyn, New York) July 2004
808 Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition (Boston, Massachusetts) April 2004
Commonwealth Gallery (Boston Massachusetts) November 2003
SS NOVA, Mockbee Gallery, Pyramids and Railroads(Cincinnati, Ohio) June 2002
Carnegie Art Center, 15 Emerging Artists of Cincinnati(Covington, KY) July 2000
DAAPWORKS, Exhibition (Cincinnati, Ohio) June 2000
Cincinnati Woman’s Art Club, Exhibition: (Cincinnati, OH) April 2000
840 Gallery, Two Painters. (Cincinnati, Ohio) November 1999
ARTIST /ACADEMIC LECTURES
Miami University: Contemporary Artist Forum September 2022
Art Academy of Cincinnati, First Generation College Experience November 2021
Minneapolis Museum of Art, Artist Talk, October 2021
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Artist talk September 2021
Cincinnati Museum Center, How the Ancient Maya Live onToday July 2019
Cincinnati State Technical & Community College 2016
Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, Vermont) March 2006
Rolling Meadows Schedule school (Chicago, Illinois) May 2006
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
The Welcome M(ART) Artist-In Residence April 2023
ArtsWave Truth and Reconciliation Grant December 2020
Cincinnati access Grant December 2020
Americans for the Arts Artist Grant December 2020
Vermont Studio Center (artist residency; partial artist scholarship) March 2006
Constantine Alajalov Scholarship, Boston University March 2002-2004
Visual Arts Scholarship, Boston University March 2002-2004
H.I.R.E. Presidential Scholarship Award August 2002
City of Cincinnati 2001-2002 Individual Artist Grant Recipient May 2001
Jean Tatgenhorst-Conrad Artist Travel Fellowship April 2000
Three Arts Scholarship March 2000
EDUCATION
Boston University: College of Fine Arts
MFA, Painting, May 2004
Notable courses: Memory I: Faith and Heresy in Ancient and Modern Literature. Professor Elie Wiesel (recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize) Independent Study: Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology; Harvard University
University of Cincinnati: College of D.A.A.P.
BFA, Painting, Cum Laude, June 2000
SELECTED FINE ARTS & EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT
Art Academy of Cincinnati Fall 2008 - Present
Faculty, Foundations and Fine Arts Departments
Classes: Drawing II, III, IV, V, Introduction to Painting, Discovery and Voice
Community Education: Mixed Media Collage, Oil Painting as Narrative
Welcome Project: May 2020
Maya Glyphic writing demonstration and workshop
Pop Latinx material Art making workshop
Cincinnati Museum Center June 2019
Mesoamerican writing demonstration
Artworks, Inc. 2006-2021
Lead Teaching Artist/Designer:
The Edge Project (2021) You Are Here (2020) Mural: Connected through the Ages (2019) 5 Murals Pl Migration ( 2008) Mural: The Scribe, Fish, and the Sea (2007)
Mural: Welcome to Pleasant Ridge (2006)
Cincinnati State Technical & Community College 2008 - 2020
Faculty/Lecturer, Design Principles, Drawing, Introduction to Art, Ancient Art History, Medieval to Renaissance Art, Art History: 1880 to Present, Contemporary Art History
Miami University 2006-2008
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Art: Drawing III, IV
Boston University 2002-2004
Teaching Assistant: Visual Arts: Drawing I: Drawing as a Visual Language, Anatomy Drawing and Painting for Non-Majors; Gallery Assistant, 808 Gallery Administrative Assistant to Graduate Painting Department Chair
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: The Edge Project July-September 2021
RSNS Studios: November 2020
Semantics Gallery (Cincinnati, Ohio) June 2010
Milton Art Museum (Milton, Massachusetts) January 2010
Huntington Theatre Gallery (Boston, Massachusetts) September 2003