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Ncho'o Azabache
Ncho'o Azabache
Ncho'o Azabache (Vanessa Carrera Navarro)
Artist's statement:
Ncho’o Azabache is an artist who reclaims her Ñuu’savi/Nahua heritage, expressing it through printmaking techniques on materials such as paper and, more recently, clay. Her artworks are born from a desire to learn more about her home—La Puerta de la Mixteca Poblana/The Door to the Mixteca Poblana region (Itzocan, Puebla, Mexico)—and to pay homage to its biodiversity and culture. She does so by incorporating imagery such as hummingbirds, bougainvillea flowers, the "tree of life," the Popocatépetl volcano, local food, and sacred sites.
In the artworks, Azabache questions the lack of ethics within museums and galleries—both national and international—that treat these sacred beings as “objects” and refuse to return ancestral pieces—or rather, ancestral beings—to the communities to which they belong, and which hold the knowledge and identity of those communities. She also questions herself, the space that surrounds her, the decolonization of her own soul, mind, and existence, and the insufficient protection we afford to our ancestral knowledge.
In addition to her practice, for Azabache returning to her home every summer has a profound impact on her work, research and her exploration on materials. To create, she returns home to her family every summer. Her father drives her to municipalities around Izúcar de Matamoros to teach her the authenticity of her culture. He takes her to mountains filled with history from her ancestors to rivers and lagoons. This connects her with local community.
Education
2025-2026 MFA in Printmaking
California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
In process/ currently
2020-2024 BFA in Studio Art Printmaking
Minor in Art History
University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Group Exhibits
2026 Loss, Dutzi Gallery, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
2025 All Power to the People: Estamos en la Lucha!, Dutzi Gallery, California State University Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
2025 Women in Art-Letting in The Light, Art on Main Gallery, Dallas, TX
2025 Showcase for staff artwork, Dallas Museum of Art, Tower Gallery, Dallas TX
2024 Entintado: Ink Visions from the U.S and México, Bath House Cultural
Center, Dallas, TX
Dia de Los Muertos: Messages of Love for the Forgotten and Disappeared, Bath House Cultural
Center, Dallas, TX
Lasting Impressions: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of PANTS exhibition, CVAD, Denton
TX
Small and Spicy, The 500X Gallery, Irving, TX
Earth Tones, Sunrise Movement and Cima Arts, Gaston Avenue, Dallas, TX
2023 Exchange of Being, Senior BFA Printmaking Exhibition, UNT CoLab Gallery, Denton, TX
CVAD celebrates! University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design, Denton, TX
Can you hear me? Senior BFA Printmaking Exhibition, Union Gallery, University of North Texas
College of Visual Arts and Design, Denton, TX
62nd Voertman Art Competition, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas College of Visual
Arts and Design, Denton, TX
2022 CVAD celebrates! University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design, Denton, TX
61st Voertman Art Competition, Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas College of Visual
Arts and Design, Denton, TX
Pride Alliance’s first annual QT Art Show, Union Gallery, University of North Texas College of
Visual Arts and Design and Design, Denton, TX
Night Fever the art show, Cima Galleries, Dallas, TX
30 under 30, group exhibition, Patterson-Appleton Arts Center, Denton, TX
Relief print sold
2018 North Lake College Student Art Exhibition, Main Gallery, Irving, TX
International Exhibitions
2024 ArtGeminiPrize 2024, London Lighthouse Gallery, London City Island, London, UK.
Azabache Patlache, Coyote Press & Salma Araujo, Jupiterfab Arts Residency, Guadalajara, Jalisco,
MX
National Exhibitions
2026 Patchwork Healing Blanket: La Manta de Curacion, Visual Arts Gallery, Pima Cmmunity College,
Tucson, AZ
2026 Mini Print LA, Boathouse Gallery, Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles, CA
Regional Exhibitions
2024 Print Rodeo 8x8 Exhibition, PrintAustin, Austin, Texas
2023 Press Forward: PrintHouston National student printmaking exhibition, Box 13 Art Space,
Houston, Texas
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