Sage Alucero: Queer Presence is Ancient
Decolonizing notions of gender identity through their art and connection to their indigenous ancestry.
By Museo Eduardo Carrillo
Curation by Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga with funding from the Arts Council Santa Cruz County 2023 Create Grant
Sage Alucero (They/them) is a Northern California multimedia and performance artist whose artwork focuses on their identity through the lens of their Indigenous Mexican ancestry and their connection to nature.
Sage Alucero is one of the two artists featured in the 2023 Museo Eduardo Carrillo online exhibit Decolonizing the Artist: Indigenous Mexican identity in the Art of Suzy González and Sage Alucero (link to museoeduardocarrillo.org exhibit)
Queer Presence Is Ancient (2023) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Queer Presence is Ancient, 2023
“The gender binary has been imposed through colonial violence and my existence is something outside of that entirely.”
- Sage Alucero
As a queer, non-binary, trans masculine Chicano their art practice involves a deeper understanding and reconnection to their indigenous Mexican roots focusing on evidence of queer existence in their ancestry. Research and the gathering of knowledge is integral to their artistic expression. They are informed by authors such as Robin Wall Kimmerer and Gloria Anzaldua as well as by a deep look into Mesoamerican history and Borderland politics.
Sage Alucero: Identity (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero discusses their identity within their artwork
Pyramid Drypoint Etching (2019) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Pyramid, 2019
Learning about their indigenous Mexican (Meh-shee-kan) ancestry is a large part of Alucero’s art practice. Through their use of Nahuatl language and the reproduction of sacred imagery, Alucero creates a connection between themself and ancient Mesoamerican artisans.
Coatlicue (2020) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Coatlicue, 2020
Coatlicue “Snakes her skirt” is an important Mesoamerican earth diety, known as the mother of Huitzilopochtli, who was beheaded by her daughter. The serpents that emerge from her neck represent the blood from her beheading.
Coatlicue Altar (2020) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero honors Coatlicue through their reproduction of the massive stone statue in bronze miniature. In this way the imposing goddess in her behemoth statue form has become a personal deity to be carried with Alucero.
Nepantla, 2022
The phrase Nepantla references an “in-betweenness” that much of western culture rejects. For many Chicanos, reclaiming and recognizing liminal spaces becomes a radical anti-colonialist act.
Alucero’s woodblock print Nepantla features the space between the deities Xochipilli and Xochiquetzal showcasing the balance that the two form. Nepantla can be viewed from either direction emphasizing either deity depending on how the print is hung.
Sage Alucero: Nepantla (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero on "Nepantla"
Romero/Rabbit, 2021
In this vulnerable oil painting, Alucero illustrates what it means for them to heal after top surgery. The rosemary and rabbit are key components of their healing process both physically and spiritually.
Sage Alucero: Romero (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero on "Romero/Rabbit"
Offering Mural (2023) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Offering, 2023
The 12 x 7 ft. mural "Offering" is located at UCSC in Porter College and was completed July 2023.
It centers around the quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass, “Joy is what the earth gives me daily. I must return the gift.”
Alucero believes in this sentiment strongly and is mindful to give back to the earth with gratitude for all that the earth has given them. This connection and respectful exchange can be seen as a recurring theme throughout their works.
“I see a part that I can give back to the earth in exchange for all of the life affirming moments that I have had in nature, I can make art about that and allow other people to feel connected to that message too. I wanted to make something that both uplifts indigenous knowledge and highlights queer presence.”
–Sage Alucero on their mural "Offering"
Home (photo intaglio) (2022) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Home, 2022
The concept of "home" can be a difficult topic for LGBTQA+ people especially those from immigrant or diasporic origins. Through the presentation of x-rays and photos of nature in the same light, Alucero creates an anatomical diagram of the idea of "home." Here this concept includes feeling at home in ones body as well as home being your place within the natural world. Alucero has removed borders, politics, and even skin from their definition, grounding the body as a part of the earth itself.
Serenades the Night (Green), 2023
In this woodblock print, Alucero expresses their deep connection to the earth through their depiction of themself as the nopales plant.
Here they are part of the full cycle of nature, linking the joining of two people to that of bats partaking of the nectar from the nopales flowers while simultaneously pollinating the blossoms.
Teonanacatl (2021) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Teonanacatl, 2021
In their oil painting Teonanacatl, Alucero further explores the connection of humans and plants, this time between the human body and the mycelial body.
Sage Alucero: Romero (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero on "Teonanacatl"
To Life, 2021
In To Life Alucero conveys the experience of anesthesia during their top surgery.
To Life (2021) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Here the heart is emphasized with it’s many root-like branches spreading across the body and nestled within breast tissue.
The body appears to disintegrate as the subject slips into unconsciousness. Alucero likens the experience to the closest you can feel to death without dying.
Seed of Something Beautiful, 2022
With their strong relation to plants and seeds, Alucero’s art is reminiscent of a Mexican proverb that goes, “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
Sage Alucero: Three Sisters (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Sage discusses their relation to "The Three Sisters"
Seed Bridge, 2021
Seed Bridge (2021) by Sage AluceroMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Indigenous practices have always been interwoven with Environmentalism. The viewpoint is that we are stewards of the land and it is our responsibility to care for it.
In Seed Bridge we see the land stewardship of the past continuing into the present emphasizing the need for such practices and the importance of respecting the past care for the land.
Sage Alucero: Seed Bridge (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero on "Seed Bridge"
Alucero uses their art to communicate the need for connection with nature and the people who have cared for the land we live on.
A Great Spirit, 2020
With ancestry as a seed, Alucero reinforces their identity through the queer expressions of the past that colonialism has tried to hide.
They find the words for who they are in Nahuatl and in the ancient history that supports their existence.
Sage Singing (2023) by Sage Alucero and Nicole Rudolph-VallergaMuseo Eduardo Carrillo
Alucero performs a song in Nahuatl "Ometeotl"
Sage Alucero is one of the two artists featured in the 2023 Museo Eduardo Carrillo online exhibit Decolonizing the Artist: Indigenous Mexican identity in the Art of Suzy González and Sage Alucero as curated by Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga.
To to know more about the artist you can follow them on instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/alucero777/
Decolonizing the Artist: Indigenous Mexican identity in the Art of Suzy González and Sage Alucero is supported by the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County through the 2023 Create Grant
Writing and Curation by Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga, 2022-23 Guest Curatorial Intern for Museo Eduardo Carrillo
https://nicolerudolphart.wixsite.com/home
Photos Courtesy of the Artist and Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
Video provided by Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
