“Picturing Paradise” is Rebecca Davis’ own collection of curated cuadros, or embroidered fabric pictures. They are now on display in Wiegand Gallery where they may be viewed until the end of October.

Davis’ curated exhibition, the outcome of several fieldwork projects to underprivileged areas, is in truth the handiwork of women in the Peruvian community of Pamplona Alta. There, two art cooperatives based out of Lima, Peru (Compacto Humano and Manos Anchashinas) provide both economic and emotional support.

Her exhibition is coupled with real photographs of the women taken by Kamil Bialous, a member of the Paradigm Shift Project, a non-profit organization geared to helping local community organizations gain leadership ability, organization and supplies for developing countries.

Both the cuadros and the photos are exhibited as a way for the political, social, and economic sentiments of these Peruvian women to be expressed in a way that is both just and economically viable for them.

Davis’ exhibition is the product of three commissioned projects taking place during her trips to Lima, Peru. Her social focus zoned in on Pamplona Alta, an area of shantytowns ringing the metropolitan city of Lima, where many women have settled down in an attempt to provide security for their families.

Culminating from Wiegand Gallery Director Robert Poplack’s interest in Davis’ unique pieces, “Picturing Paradise” caught his attention with its juxtaposition of social justice issues and visually striking images. Poplack, who was “astounded by the visions of these women”, contacted Davis with intentions of displaying her work far in advance of this month’s exhibition.

When asked why these cuadros were so significant to him in regards to his work as Gallery Director, Poplack explained that what was most interesting was the “combination of aesthetics of the work and of social justice.” The brightly painted homes nestled in Pamplona Alta, in contrast with the austere surroundings of life on the outskirts of Peru, are one example of this, especially when mirrored in the lively and complex meshing of textures, colors, and images in the women’s cuadros.

Amy Jobin, Director of Spirituality here at NDNU, also became involved in the process of showing the embroidered pictures.

The first commissioned project, Hopes and Dreams, took place January 2006 and consisted of 15 richly embroidered cuadros. Inspirations and Motivations, part of her January 2007 trip, included narratives highlighting the personal background of each individual woman and the story from her own eyes.

Most recent of her fieldwork projects, Quien Soy Yo?, or Who Am I?, resulted from her July 2008 trip in which the concept of self-perception was studied. Now on display as part of the larger “Picturing Paradise” exhibition, a broader study is now examined in which personal histories, goals, and beliefs are communicated through a decidedly feministic, political lens.

One woman, Fidencia Principe Linan, writes, “This is my simple story”, words that while outwardly simple resonate with profound sentiment of the true meaning of the good life. Also a mother, gardener, and financial supporter of her own family, she is just one among many women whose story now has an audience. Cuadros stitched with scenes of marriage altars, vegetable planting, and church events mark similar personal backgrounds cementing hopes and history as a unified story.

Davis seeks to emphasize in these paintings both the social struggles endured in these high-altitude shanty towns as well as the resilience and beauty of womanhood in Pamplona Alta. Marked by poverty, corrupt government, and challenges to quality education, healthcare and safety, the highlands surrounding Lima are an adverse place to nurture children.

Thus the vibrant textiles depicting scenes such as crop harvests, children playing, and women in community engagement underscore a broad spectrum of sociopolitical commentary. In short, many of these women have so much to say and not many opportunities in which to speak—weaving and creating cuadros became a vehicle for their words and a way to voice an opinion largely drowned out by an ocean of other social problems. As Laura Gomez Aviles writes of her children, “I am a mother that keeps them close without neglecting them and helps to support the home”, words now found pasted to the wall of Wiegand Gallery where they reflect the message stitched into her vibrant cuadro.

Most prominent of the challenges is the struggle to provide for one’s family. Textile workshops and cuadros became a creative means of income for many, and yet they still remain laced with experiences unique to each woman. Scenes riddled with cheerful vegetable gardens, alpacas, and placid life in the Peruvian hillsides mirror the positive aspect of life in Pamplona Alta.

The Lima shanty towns are themselves a profound hurdle to overcome. Through a maternal perspective, the ugly face of poverty is not something easily accepted; the women’s capitalization on textile work proves this.

The light-hearted scenes may be more politically-charged than what first meets the eye, but in totality, they are a dualistic representation of real life in a Peruvian shanty town-both burdensome and blessed.

Looking closely at the cuadros, there is far more depth to these colorfully embroidered pictures than mere superficial appeal. As Rebecca Davis reiterates, “Their cuadros underscored that our journey is not one of isolation but as a supportive community reveling in camaraderie, creation and color.”

It is simplicity and authenticity that one finds stitched into each woman’s cuadro, and yet each continues to tell a story of individual struggle and triumph amidst the rubble of lofty cities.