Celeste De Luna

Artist’s Statement:

My vision is continuously expanding of the Texas landscape and the Southwest, the frontera, and people. My imagination and reverence for the natural world blend with environmental concern, creating an ebb and flow which shapes each piece. My work celebrates nature, mystery, and the unknown, and upholds the power of stories as a vital way to understand both self and world.

My choices of materials, printmaking, multiples and fabric installation, are based on my cultural background, economic insecurity, and how these tools and processes make me feel. Printmaking gives me a feeling of abundance and allows me to make mistakes. The security that making multiples supplies of having a second chance to perfect something and problem solve continues to fascinate me. Prints that are imperfect can be transformed through collage and other multi-media processes. Printmaking tools and its connection to the trades reminds me of my father and the tool shed he built himself behind our home. Fabric pieces remind me of my mother’s creativity through her sewing and domestic work and connect my artwork  to femininity and craft. The things that have influenced my visual aesthetic the most are my Tejana heritage, Mexican printmakers, and Xicana artists like Santa Barraza and Liliana Wilson. Barraza’s work for her deeply spiritual and familial subject matter and Wilson’s work for her illustrative and meditative style. Wilson handles political themes with subtlety-something I really aspire to. I also love African American artist Alison Saar’s work for her economic and powerful visual vocabulary. I love work that reminds me of the meditative religious imagery of my youth. As a girl, most of our family time was spent going to church, and I attended youth retreats at a convent in Rockport, Texas. I spent summers with my aunt who was a nun there learning to pray, be still, and observe images of saints. 

My work documents  individual and collective experiences in the Texas landscape and U.S/Mexico borderlands. As a Tejana artist, I use family memories, folklore, politics, and futuristic  imagery inspired by nature, cultural and embodied experiences. How physical environments affect the mind and body are something I think about a lot. My mother’s chronic illness and health care experiences significantly impacted me in my early life. Much of my earlier work shows the body and mind subject to the pre-pandemic South Texas borderland that I grew up in for over 40 years.  Women who want to be heard, criminalized bodies, and the mind subject to relentless surveillance are all subjects that can be found in my work. Growing up, folklore and Catholicism were powerful ways for me to connect with my mother and family. Stories about the Devil, miracles, and the land itself made the supernatural feel as real as the natural world I saw every day. I sometimes saw my father capture lizards and hang them up on our clothesline when we needed rain. “The lizards will bring the rain,” he said. The stories I heard about lechuzas, la Llorona, local wildlife, and the rural land we lived in inspired an organic love for American horror and science fiction. A Godzilla-like horned lizard battling industry, the Chupacabra sabotaging Space X, and turtles that blast off into space are just as plausible as the common blue jay or snake in my world. Welcome.

Biography:

Celeste De Luna’s work celebrates nature, mystery, and the unknown, and upholds the power of stories as a vital way to understand both self and world.  De Luna is a Tejana artist from South Texas and an assistant professor at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio. Her mixed media printmaking-centered on large-scale woodcut prints and fabric installations-has been collected by institutions such as the Alamo Colleges District, Blanton Museum of Art, and the City of San Antonio. De Luna’s work has also been exhibited in international exhibitions in Vancouver, Michoacan, Puerto Rico and Queretaro.  She has received residencies, fellowships, and grants from organizations including the Vermont Studio Center, Artplace America, and the Santa Fe Art Institute.  Rooted in the unique cultural landscape of the Texas-Mexican frontera, De Luna’s practice explores themes of migration, ecology, and women’s stories—fusing personal narrative with collective memory. Recently, her work  was featured in the anthology ¡Somos Tejanas!, (2025, edited by Norma E. Cantu and Jody A. Marin) which explores Tejana identity through contemporary art, essays, and personal narratives.

EDUCATION:

2009    M.F.A.  Studio Art University of Texas Pan American, Edinburg, Texas.

1998    B.A. St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas

CURRENT/UPCOMING PROJECTS:

• “Refusing to Forget,” a two person show at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Community Gallery. Nov. 28- May 31, 2024. Cristina Balli.

• “Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers”, The Contemporary, San Antonio, Tx.  Greta De Leon and Jill Baird. June 7-Oct 6, 2024

• El Otro Lado del Espejo/The Other Side of the Mirror. September 2024. Queretaro/San Antonio Lionel & Kathy Sosa. 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 “Skies & Serpents,” solo show. La Pena Gallery, Austin, TX. 

2017 Tragic/Magic Valley, Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center. San Benito Texas. 

2016 “Our Lady” One-person art exhibit. Tejano Civil Rights Museum, Corpus Christi, TX. 

2016 “One Thousand Cuts” Solo art exhibit, La Pena Gallery, Austin, 

2015 Past the Checkpoint, Gallista Gallery, San Antonio, Texas. (Contemporary Art Month )

2013 Nepantla: Art from the Four Corners of the Valley, South Texas College. McAllen, Texas. (curated by Rachael Brown, Texas Biennial 2013)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 “The Contemporary Print  2023” form & concept center Santa Fe, New Mexico. Juried by Rashuan Rucker. 4/28/23-6/17/23.  The Art Galleries at ACC, Austin, Texas. 

2023 “Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers”, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Greta De Leon and Jill Baird. Jan 4, 2022-Jan 31, 2023

2023 “Fronteras del Futuro: Art in New Mexico and Beyond” National Hispanic Cultural Centre, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jadira Gurule. 

2022 “Texas Women Printmakers,” Oso Bay Biennial XXII.  K-Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, Texas. Ryan O’Malley. 

2022 “José Guadalupe Posada: The Iconic Printmaker and his Legacy in Popular Culture,” Fullerton Museum Center, Fullerton, CA.  Rigo Maldonando.

2020 “Xicanx: New Visions” The Clemente. New York.  Dec. 5- Jan. 19, 2020. Suzy Gonzalez and Michael Menchaca.

2019  “Outer Terrains,” Box 13 Art Space Latino Art Now Conference. Houston, Texas. Tere Garcia and Victora Paige Gonzales.

2018   “Human Rights Exhibit” Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston, Tx.  Carol Manley.

2017 “Visions From the Inside” The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA. June 16-Aug. 20, 2017. Culturestrike.

 2016 “Fencing In Democracy.” apexart.org. New York, NY. Miguel Diaz-Barriga and Margaret Dorsey. (catalogue)  

2016 “Nuevo Arte 2016”  UTSA. San Antonio, Texas. Juror: Kimberly Arp. (catalogue)

COLLECTIONS

Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin, Gilberto Cardenas Collection, Gift of Gilberto Cardenas and Dolores Garcia. 2024

Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, Texas. 2022, 2024

Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, 2017.

CMAS, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas. 2019

Coronado Studios Print Collection, Austin, Texas. 

LIonel and Kathy Sosa (private collection)

University of Texas at Austin Benson Latin American Collection,Gift of  Dr. Harriet and Ricardo Romo, 2010

University of Texas San Antonio Special Collections, (MS 472). San Antonio, Texas.

PRINT PORTFOLIOS:

• “Disability Visibility” Southern Graphics International print portfolio. Verified by Proof Conference. Organized by Brett Taylor and Becci Spruilli,  April 2024. 

• “Essential Workers” Print Portfolio, Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, California. Curated by Marianne Sadowski  Feb 25-March 30, 2023. 

• Print Austin 2021 Trade Portfolio. Austin, Tx 2021, 2022, 2023

• “Conjuring Crossroads: Time Traveling with This Bridge Called My Back” portfolio exchange.  Instituo Grafico de Chicago and Marimacha Monara Press. Chicago. Antonio Pazaran. November 2019.

• 2019 Ambos Lados International Print Exchange. El Paso, Texas. Horned Toad Prints. February 2019.

• 2010. Mexican Revolution Centennial Print Portfolio.  Chicago, Illinois.  Curated by Rene Arceo.  August 2010

AWARDS/GRANTS/RESIDENCIES

2024 Changarrito Residency. Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX. Isabel Servantz. 

2022 Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnson, Vermont.  November 2022 . 

2021 Sustainable Arts Foundation Finalist in Printmaking, Sustainable Arts Foundation. Tony and Caroline Grant.

2019 Spudnik Press Artist in Residence,Chicago, Illinois. Angee Lennard.  November 2019.

2019 Aunt Lute/ADR Foundation  RGV Poetry Project    Maya Sisneros, 2019. 

2018 A Blade of Grass Fellow for Hacemos La Ciudad (We Make the City) (Las Imaginista Collective)

Santa Fe Art Institute Equal Justice Resident Artist 2017-2018, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Toni Gentilli. July 2018.

2017 Art Place America Creative Placemaking Grant. (Las Imaginista Collective)

2016 Residency at Activating Vacancy Arts Incubator at buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. Christina Houle. Brownsville, Texas. June-November 2016.

2015 10th Annual Human Rights Art Exhibition.  South Texas College. Merit Award. McAllen, TX. Contemporary Art Month Award Alchemic Reactions Award for Collaborating Artists. San Antonio, TX.

2014 Contemporary Art Month Cammie Award with Spare Parts Lady Base Gallery. San Antonio, TX.

2013 Texas Biennial Participating Artist.

2009 Alma de Mujer Artist’s Residency. Indigenous Women’s Network, 13621 FM 2769, Austin, TX 78726. Aug 8-15, 2009. Maribel Garza, program director.

2008 Muralist in Training Boot Camp Residency, San Anto Cultural Arts Center, 1300 Chihuahua St, San Antonio, Texas, 78207.  8/11/08-8/18/08. Executive director Manuel D. Castillo.

SELECTED MEDIA

• “Borderland artwork on view at the Guadalupe Center’s Latino Bookstore,” Nicholas Frank, San Antonio Report, May 26, 2024.

• Celeste de Luna: Latina Artist, Printmaker, and Educator”,Ricardo Romo,  La Prensa San Antonio, May 15,  2024.

• Published interview,” Indelible with Rene Arceo”. Graphic Impressions, online publication. Editor, Blake Sanders. March 2024

• Documentary film, Truly Texas Mexican. 2021 director Anibel Capoano, written by Adan Medrano. 

• Hello, Print Friend Podcast, interview with Miranda Metcalf. May 2023

• Celeste De Luna, Reflections on Color and Printmaking, https://rb.gy/8cslgp , Interview with Laura Berman. 

• 40 Emerging, Texas Based Artists You Should Know. Online exhibit. Remezcla. Barbara Calderon. December 2020. 

• Cover image and featured artist in Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social. San Antonio, Texas. Sonya Aleman. Spring 2020. 

• Work published, Cover image. FENCING IN DEMOCRACY NECROCITIZENSHIP AND THE US-MEXICO BORDER WALL by Miguel Diaz-Barriga & Margaret E. Dorsey.  Duke University Press, Durham & London, 2020.

• Work published. Lara Medina and Martha R. Gonzalez. Voices From the Ancestors. Xicanx and Latinx Spiritual Expressions and Healing Practices. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 2019, Print. 

• Miguel Diaz-Barriga, Margaret Dorsey & Abou Farman (2017) Rasquache Aesthetics and the Unmonumental Border, Anthropology Now, 9:3, 6-15, DOI: 10.1080/19428200.2017.1390907

• Exhibit Review.  “Laura LaVelle New Yorkers: Check out Fencing Democracy” Newswhistle. http://newswhistle.com/new-yorkers-check-out-fencing-in-democracy/ 7/06/2016

• Work published. Hernández-Avila, Inés, and Norma E. Cantú. Entre Guadalupe Y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art. Austin: UT, 2016. Print.