We are delighted to formally announce the Art in Embassies, US Department of State acquisition of Amanda Valdez’s artwork, Full Tanit, 2018. The large-scale weaving made in collaboration with the New Roots Foundation in Antigua, Guatemala, continues Valdez’s primary inquiry of combining multiple methods and traditions of painting, mark making, and textiles. Full Tanit mimics that approach by integrating weaving methods that are unfamiliar to one another. The assemblage of these differing elements was inspired by the landscape surrounding the New Roots Foundation which Valdez described as looking “like a patchwork quilt going up the Volcano de Agua”.
Valdez has been creating work related to the Phoenecian Goddess Tanit since 2016, channeling her ideas of lunar worship, fertility and motherhood. Following her experience in Guatemala, she began working on the large scale woven artwork which was to become Full Tanit – an exemplar of the new techniques, materials, shapes and ideology of the land.
“I’ve dreamed of being part of the Art in Embassy projects since it came on my radar. Full Tanit returning to Guatemala where it was conceived, researched, and produced is the perfect homecoming. Being in Antigua for 7 weeks had a profound effect on my body; cradled within a valley with omnipresent volcanoes as I went for daily runs made me feel the power of fertility in the land and within my own body. Tanit is an ancient fertility goddess and symbol, outstretched arms become a vessel, a prayer to the moon, and one of suredness. I not only made this large scale piece but decided that I also wanted a child while under the influence of the land and ruminations of Tanit.”
— Amanda Valdez, 2022
Full Tanit was acquired from The Landing Gallery, LA and Denny Dimin Gallery, New York and is now part of the Permanent Collection of the US Embassy, Guatemala City; Art in Embassies, US Department of State. The artwork will be on view there from February 2023.
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