Portfolio

















Alejandra Portrait

Artist Statement
Born in the mundane, my photographs are of this world, rather than inventions or visions of an ideal or dream, you might even say these images arise from the ground we walk on, the terra firma of daily life.
Images beget images: my work is mostly in series. What I feel is provoked by the images themselves, leading to different responses and treatments— hand deckling, tearing or sewing the print. The most ritualistic and involving method, when an image feels like an occasion or ceremony, is encaustic—cooking a mix of bees wax and dammar resin and then heating, painting and fusing this layer onto the print, a veil cast over the object of our gaze.
A. Chaverri

Biographical Sketch

Alejandra Chaverri was born in Heredia, Costa Rica. She attended the University of Costa Rica earing a degree in Food Science. After relocating to Palo Alto, California, United States in 1990, she studied photography at Foothill College, Los Altos, California and gradually turned Photography into her career.

Besides her own photography series on social commentaries and creative process, Alejandra works on digitizing documents of historic interest and teaches photography to local community groups and privately.

 

Solo Exhibitions

Photolab Gallery, Berkeley CA.  Cuban Interlude. March 6-April 17, 2010. 

 EBMUD Gallery, Oakland Administration Building, Oakland, CA, US.  "La Furia del Tiempo" August 25-October 16, 2009.

Mike's Cafe, Palo Alto, CA, US. Ripples:studies of light, figure and movement. April 28-June 30, 2008.

Keeble and Shuchat Gallery, Palo Alto, California, US. By the Scalene Rules: Three Works In Progress.
October15 -December 2, 2006.

French Alliance, San José Costa Rica, Otrora. November, 2006

Casa de la Cultura, Heredia, Costa Rica September 2006. Otrora, In olden times.


French Alliance, San José, Costa Rica.  I see you and I remember you.Restored images out of glass negatives from early 1900 in Costa Rica. February, 2006. Presented as part of “2006, San Jose, Ibero American Capital of Culture.”

Hello Wine Tasting Room. Alameda, California. Ripples: studies of light, figure and movement. November, 2005

Casa de la Cultura, Heredia, Costa Rica. I see you and I remember you. Restored images out of glass negatives from early 1900 in Costa Rica. September, 2005

Torrefazzione Italia Coffee Cafés, San Francisco, CA. Tierra, March 5 to April 30, 2005.

Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco, CA. Before the Curtain: a celebration with dancers and violins. June 3 to July 30, 2004.

Selected Group Exhibitions

Arc Studios & Gallery, Reframe: Making Sense of Waste, San Francisco, CA. May 7th to May 30, 2010.

Galeria Tonatzin, San Juan Bautista, CA.  Habitats and Nichos by Alejandra Chaverri and Patricia Rodriguez.  April 16-MAy 8, 2010.

SOMARTS Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, February 5- to February 27, 2010.  Prints Byte; the cutting edge of printmaking,  hosted by co-curators Justin Hoover and Hanna Regev.  Artist talk: February 5, 6:30 pm followed by opening reception 7:00 pm-9:00 pm. Panel Discussion: Politics and History of Printmaking.  Saturday February 20, 3-4:30 pm.  Featuring Art Haselwood, Robert Flynn Johnson and Steve Lopez, moderated by Don Farnsworth.  Curatorial Walk Through and closing reception:  Saturday February 27, 3-4pm, hosted by curators Jutin Hoover and Hanna Regev. 

 Woman Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL.    From the Center: Now! Juror, Lucy Lippard. Exhibition sponsored by the Women's Caucus for Art.  Juror's statement , January 22-February 25, 2010. 

 International Center for Fine Art Photography, Forth Collins, CO, US. New Visions. Juror, Michel Itkoff, Founding Editor of Daylight Magazine. Juror's Statement. January 15- February 13, 2010.

Works San Jose, San Jose, CA, US. All For One!...   October 4-November 13, 2009.

Art Object Gallery, San Jose, CA, US.  Perspective Purpose and Passion.  XX anniversary exhibition, SBAWCA.  August 29, September 16, 2009

The Gallery in the Duderstadt Center, University of Michigan, Ann Harbor, MI, Home: Loving It, Losing It, Leaving It, May 8 to 20, 2009.  Juried by Larissa Larson.

North First ARTSpace at Orchard Commercial, San Jose, CA, US.  Late Monday Afternoon  February 16, June 19, 2009.  Juried and curated by Carla Turturici.

Korean Cultural Center, Los Anges, CA, US.  Women Artists on Immigration, Crossing Borders, Confronting Barriers, Bridging Identities.  February 20-March 7, 2009.  Juried by Alma Ruiz.

San Francisco Center for the Book/African American Museum and Library of Oakland, Oakland, CA, US.  Banned&recovered, artists response to censorship. August 15-November 26, 2008.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA, US.Inner Landscapes.  July 3, July 30th, 2008.

Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX, US.  Click Chicks + mostly women photographers. May 30t-August 6th, 2008,

Bring Gallery, Eugene, Oregon, US, Art: an Earth Day Celebration, April 19-May 29, 2008.

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, MCCLA, San Francisco, CA, US, Women On War. Solo Mujeres 21th Annual Juried Exhibition with Members of theNorthern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA)
February 15 – March 29, 2008. Juried by Karen Tsujimoto.

Los Altos Library, Los Altos, CA, US. Just for Fun, November 2-November 29, 2007. Exhibition organized by the South Bay Women's Caucus for the Art. SBWCA

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA, US. A Woman's Touch. May 2-May 31, 2007.

Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latinoamericana, MACLA,San José, CA, US. Domestic Alchemy. February 2 to April 7, 2007.

Stanford Art Spaces,SAS, Stanford University, University, Palo Alto, California, US. Seven Photographers. September 22 through November 30, 2006.

Exchange Exhibition among PhotoCentral Gallery, Hayward, California, and the Sirius Gallery, Tokyo and the Minatomirai Gallery, Yokohama, Japan. April,2004.

Photocentral Gallery Hayward, CA. Mosaic, December 12 to January 30, 2004.

Red Ink Studios. Santana Row, San Jose, CA. Resurrection, September 2003.

Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA. Juried show: Close-Up, September 2003.

Silicon Valley Open Studios, Los Altos, CA. The f/4 Photography, April 2003.


Collections

A votar. Photographs of the 2006 Presidential Election in Costa Rica. Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, San José, Costa Rica. November, 2006.

A glimpse of a luthier’s art, artist book part of the Art Collection of the School of Music. Permanent display. University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica. September 2005.


Recognitions

Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana. MACLA San Jose, California, US. 2006 Artist in Residence. Family Portraits Mural.

League for Innovation in the Community College. Student Art Competition. Certificate of National Merit, Second Place. May 15, 2003.

Foothill Community College, Los Altos Hills, CA. Visual Arts Division Award, 2002.

 

Teaching

2007-2008 Instructor for MACLA's Digital PhoLab Program, San Jose, California, US

2008-2009 Art Workshops at the Muriel Wright Center, San Jose, California, US

2009  MACLA Associate Curator