Melissa Wolf: The Origin of Vaqueros

September 5-26, Snap Space Gallery

Hundreds of years before there was the American cowboy, there was the vaquero, an expert horseman who could adeptly herd cattle through skills with a lasso. Dating back to classic western cinematography, the image of cowboys has been cemented as white Americans when the first vaqueros were in fact Indigenous Mexican men. This work is a representation of the research Wolf has been doing about the Mexican cowboy, Vaquero. This piece emphasizes the history and cultural hegemony of the cowboy in Mexico along with its spread into the American culture of the United States. These piñatas and concrete panels reflect Wolf’s personal narrative and heritage growing up in Mexico surrounded by a family full of cowboys. As a form of self expression she decorated the pinata with playful elements. The piece is surrounded by concrete and candies constituting for the beautiful Mexican tradition. She incorporates these celebratory elements in contrast to the deeply rooted history the country has.

Wolf’s career has been greatly influenced by her identity and purpose as a Mexican-American woman. Her Hispanic heritage drives a majority of the conceptual meaning behind her works. Currently she is exploring the notions of playfulness and what it means to experiment with constant self reflection. Childhood memories and toys are what drive most of her direction. Her sculptures question functionality and what it feels like to completely transform objects from their original meaning. The purpose of creating nonfunctional relics is to provoke a reaction of longing and deliberation within viewers who may then question their own experiences of childhood, and adulthood. Her area of interest is mixed media sculpture. Often, she works with cement as a primary material in her practice. It’s used for creating concrete sculptures out of molds and as surface texture in her sculptures. She covers objects such as stuffed animals in concrete and lets the object solidify to become something new. Her work also expands beyond cement. She works with many materials such as clay, textiles, wood, and anything else she can get her hands on. Wolf’s sculptural process engages with growth and loss, forcing soft tones and delicate objects to transform into harsh materials. Wolf’s body of work represents the memories solidified in a moment in time with the physicality of the materials.

Melissa Guadalupe Wolf was born and raised in Leavenworth Kansas, currently residing in Kansas City, Missouri. She was part of the “Inspired by Maya Indigenous & Latino Art Experience” exhibition at Union Station, Kansas City, MO in 2023 and contributed to the exhibition “Reflecting the City” at Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO in 2024. Most recently she was part of the 2024 Benefit Arts Auction at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, NE. 

Host or Publisher Kansas City Artists Coalition