Neon is a medium that has been used over time to beckon, and Leticia Maldonado’s work viewed through the large glass windows of Bermudez Projects in Cypress Park does exactly that. Maldonado’s “Autonoetic” is a collection of mixed media that blends delicately thin bent neon with meticulously placed glass and other materials

Leticia Maldonado, Highland Park, CA, 2021. 5mm and 6mm glass clear and red glass, argon/mercury, rhinestones, organza, chiffon, faille, velvet ribbon, custom silicone insulators, and Plexiglass

The natural world is clearly an inspiration for Maldonado. Three of the pieces are figures of black birds, their feathers made of out layered glass, with different elements fashioned out of neon. Another set of three in the exhibit display flowers bent out of different colored neon. Paradise, NV and Sullivan’s Island, NC are representative of dried flowers tenderly left hanging upside down in someone’s home, while Highland Park, CA looks like a branch of hot pink bougainvillea, often seen in the namesake neighborhood, meandering sideways across the wall.

Leticia Maldonado, El Conejo, 2021. Hand-etched silver-mirrored Plexiglass, 8mm 6500 white neon tubing, 10mm 3500, white neon tubing, and argon/mercury

These two sets are bookended by stand-alone works that are arguably the most compelling pieces in the show. El Conejo is a large round, etched mirror with extremely fine white neon that splashes across the mirror; it appears like the world viewed from above at night, the sprawling lights connecting cities and countries. The work is abstract and invites viewers to peer not only into it, but into themselves. Just a Moment Let Me Get My Things is the last piece in the show, and is a mixed media work of a vintage travel trunk open for the viewer to see. Inside it lies a trumpet and playing card made out of red neon, along with dried flowers and organza and rhinestone spiderwebs—motifs that link the piece to the rest of the show. This piece is like a still life painting come to life, and the play between ready-made objects and elements made out of neon is perhaps a glimpse into a new direction that Maldonado is heading.

 

Leticia Maldonado: Autonoetic

Bermudez Projects

July 10 – August 28, 2021