Curated by Heather McGrath
Opening Reception: Friday, December 5th | 6–9PM
On view: December 5, 2025 —March 7, 2026
Mis Manos.
Mi Tierra.
Mis Antepasados.
What you see before your eyes is not art, it is life becoming.
The promise of all that is good in the world, the culmination of
human hopes and aspirations resonating through the ages.
Past
Present
Future
All distilled into one.
The essence of pure spiritual desire made manifest by hand.
Offerings create a relationship between people and landscape, between the present and the past. A Él Mismo is an offering that proposes a reimagined timeline where Spanish colonization of what is now called Latino America hadn’t occurred. Instead, these objects provide a glimpse to the possibilities of what Pre-Hispanic cultures might have looked like had they had the chance to thrive into the 21st century without the violence of erasure and extraction. Born out of reflections of my families’ immigration to the United States from Cali, Colombia, through Mexico in 1985, this became the altar for my practice. The world is brought to life through portraits of mi Abuela, mi Abuelo, mi Mama, mi hermano, y, yo mismo, giving flesh to the ancestors, while honoring those that lead to my being here.
Public Programs
Opening Reception
Friday, December 5, 2025 | 6–9 PM
BCA Mills Gallery, 551 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02116
About the
Artist
Christian Hernán De Restrepo Zúñiga Velázquez Betancourt, is a Boston-based, first generation Colombian American maker who explores the intersection of opposing worlds and the Self, by joining unusual and mundane materials to create a cohesive whole from disparate parts.
Through a votive, ritualistic process, De Restrepo weaves hand-worked textiles, primarily expanding the possibilities of his signature stapled fabric, la tela engradapa. By transforming the textiles into objects that border sculpture and fabric, he echoes the beliefs and technical artistry of his ancestors’ metalwork and their respect for materials and process.
About the
Curator
Heather McGrath is a commercial and fine art photographer in Boston. She has been published worldwide, her fine art has exhibited in the US and Canada. Whether it is through film or photography, McGrath explores narratives around people facing their shadows. Her work captures moments that are beautiful and still as well as violent and terrifying. In this duality, McGrath encapsulates the journey of life and posits a new truth – we must weather the storm to find peace within ourselves.