A Cut Above: Kai Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano's Intricate Artwork, From Papel Picado To Downton Abbey

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Mar162012

Mar 16, 2012

"Skeletons in the Closet' by Kai Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano

3rd Ward member Kai Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano can trace her artistic roots back four generations. "None of my family members would identify themselves as artists, but they are all intuitively creative people and they have always nurtured my passion for art," she says. "My great-great grandmother was an amateur photographer, she choreographed elaborate scenes with members of her family during the 1920s, and these photos are definitely a source of inspiration for me. Her daughter, my great-grandmother, made collages and was often the model of her mother's photographs. My grandmother (a nuclear physics professor) used to draw and paint, and my mother (a law professor) creates found-object art, collages, and graphic art."

Kai Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano"My family also has a tradition of story telling that has deeply informed my aesthetic and identity," she adds. "These stories tell my family history, but also the family mythology which in turn has informed our family consciousness. This unique relationship to my roots plays a huge role in my work."

Growing up in New Mexico, Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano was exposed to the Mexican folk art of papel picado, or paper cutting. "In 2008 I took a workshop at a local art center with papel picado master Catalina Delgado Trunk," she says. "The medium came easily to me, and I realized I could really use this technique to combine my multi cultural roots with my interest in politics and popular culture." Read more about Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano below and hit the jump to see more of her intricate work (including some fantastic embroidery pieces).

"I use this ancient art form to discuss sex, politics, pop culture, my family history and my own experience of walking the line between cultures, while maintaining a sense of wit and irony," she explains. "I also establish inter-generational collaborations by referencing photographs taken by my great-great grandmother."

3rd Ward has inspired Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano to further expand her skills. "I wish I could take every class!" she says. "The great thing about taking so many classes is once in a while you really find something that speaks to you, that's what happened when I took Extraordinary Embroidery with Iviva. I never embroidered before, and now I can't stop."

"I am finishing two embroidery series of Downton Abbey and Parks and Recreation which I'll submit to Bust Magazine's Craftacular fair this spring," she tells us. She just completed artwork for Brooklyn band Elliot and the Ghost and is brainstorming with her mother on some collaborative projects. Her work is also currently featured in Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper Cutting at the Boise State University Visual Arts Center. "This is particularly exciting for me because it includes such paper cutting greats as Beatrice Coron and Nikki McClure!" she says. "It is a huge honor to be showing with these talented women."

And now for two of Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano's Downton Abbey embroidery pieces, the awesomeness of which we can't begin to adequately describe, followed by a couple of her equally amazing papel picado works:

'The Dowager Countess' by Margarida-Ramírez de Arellano