A talk with artist Gaby Velez

Rocio Salceda: Gaby, tell me about the role of Spanish in your work with textiles

Gaby Velez: During my last two years in college, I began to use drawing and textile practices to investigate the role of language in the formation of cultural identity. I was trying to bring Spanish back into my life and became really interested in how we are taught language. My family roots are in Puerto Rico. I grew up in Georgia being spoken to in Spanish but then responding in English. It became a routine and I’ve been very self-conscious about it all my life. I slowly realized that language could manifest not just verbally but through contact with objects and my experience of making. I began exploring how material structures reflect a navigation between two places, two languages.

Gaby weaving at her studio in Brooklyn. August 2021

RS: So first you decided to explore language through your visual work, then you took a step further and decided to take your Spanish speaking skills to another level.

GV: Yes, my explorations led me to an art residency in Oaxaca. I lost my job during COVID and decided to go further with my art. The residency marked the first time I traveled outside America on my own. I started taking your classes so that I could communicate by the time I went to Oaxaca.

RS: Did it work?

GV: Yes! Your classes gave me the confidence to be able to speak up and improve my conversational skills. The people in Oaxaca were so nice to me as a young Spanish speaker, even taking the time to correct me when I made small mistakes.

RS: Oaxaca is one of my favorite places in the world. To me being there is a highly tactile experience, a conversation with all the senses. What was your experience?

GV: On my gosh, from the moment I got off the plane, it smelled amazing, smoky, like mezcal. And socially, I became really close to all the girls in the residency. We were all women, coming out of the pandemic time when we were all isolated. I met a lot of good people there, doing interesting projects. What I loved about it is that once I was there longer, Oaxaca City felt so small. You would run into people all the time. So that was a fun thing.

RS: In my free time in Oaxaca I would go to La Jicarita which has a fantastic selection of Spanish and English independent publications and a great vegan kitchen. I would also visit IAGO, by far one of the best art libraries I’ve seen. At Colectivo 1050 grados is where I spent most of my hard earned money. My personal paradise is at the Textile Museum downtown Oaxaca. The museum has a gorgeous patio designed by Arquitectos Artesanos from Oaxaca and now I’m certain I want to be a tile in my next life.

How was the city earlier this year?

GV: Everyone wore masks and was very careful. Once I got turned away from a shop because they thought I had a fever. I think it was just the sun but it stressed me out. COVID hit Mexico hard. Tulum has really high rates of COVID because of all the tourism. It’s sad. I felt guilty being there too. It’s so important to be aware of this give and take. When you travel somewhere, what are you taking from the people who live there, many of whom don’t have similar opportunities as you do? How can you give back? One thing I appreciated about the residency I attended was how the program integrated local Oaxacan artists. Each week there would be an artist talk then followed by a dinner where there could be conversation and connections made.

RS: I was lucky to do an unpaid internship for chef Pilar Cabrera. She runs La Olla, one of the best restaurants in the city, and she has taught cooking at at her Casa de los Sabores for 17 years now. I was able to help out and learned a lot – and made a ton of mistakes in the kitchen, but that’s how you are supposed to learn :)

And aside from the friendships you developed in Oaxaca, what did you enjoy the most?

GV: I loved just walking around. Every day I would get a limonada from Cafe Volador. I became obsessed with the wrought iron decorations on the buildings.I definitely want to recommend a dying workshop that I did in Teotitlan del Valle with a designer, her name is Angie but her brand is called Maria Ospina. I loved it. One day I had both brunch and dinner at Criollo.

Here’s a list of recommendations that Gaby and I put together:

Where to eat: