Cusi-Wortham, Elena 1935 - 2020
Found 1 Works by this Artist
1935 - 2020
Houston, Texas
Elena Cusi-Wortham (Mexican/Texan 1935 - 2020) Elena Cusi-Wortham was born in Mexico City in 1935 and began her education in Mexico City with a degree in the social sciences, nursing, and social work. Cusi -Wirtham moved to Houston in 1975 and soon enrolled at the Glassell School of Art, earning a fine arts certificate in 1981. Elena went on to show at different galleries and art spaces in Houston; the Glassell School, Mother Dog Studios, Lawndale, Diverse Works, Buffalo Bayou Art Park, Project Row Houses and group shows in Houston's commercial galleries including several solo exhibitions at Hooks Epstein. In 1993 Elena Cusi-Wortham began work on public art projects starting with Houston's Spark Park Program, working with students to complete works in several parks including Moody Park, and one in the nearby suburb of Sugar Land, Texas. Next Wortham set her sights on Houston's downtown area with works at The Cotswold Project and the South Central Police Station completing ambitious public works in cast bronze and ceramics.
"My work now, is very personal, with humor and the bizarre. I have tried to convey the notion of renewal, rebirth in nature. I use plant materials, all found in my garden, incorporating pieces of ceramic to show that if one leaves nature alone it will sprout into new life. I want to show that with patience and respect we can become advocates of our natural world that has been so exploited, poisoned, and distorted. My pieces in general are called RETOÑO, (in Spanish it means to bud or flower) because I do not like the word BUD in English! These plants and tree material have in them the history of this neighborhood, some more than 100 years old, older than the Heights, and full of forgotten stories and mysteries."
Elena past away in her heights home on June 12, 2020, at the age of 84.
https://www.dma-art.com/elena-wortham