Liliana Wilson Papers
Scope and Contents Note
The Liliana Wilson Papers are arranged into six series: Artwork, Printed Materials, Professional Activities, Publications, Personal Materials and Subject Files, and Oversize Materials.
The primary subject of the collection is the art of Liliana Wilson and related exhibitions, events, conferences, and publications, with most items documenting Wilson's career and associated activities between 2008 and 2017. Wilson's artwork is characterized by rich colors and surrealistic images drawn from her subconscious, and her primary mediums are acrylic paint or colored pencil on paper, canvas, or wood. Her artwork speaks to the trauma she and many others faced due to the military coup in Chile, and also engages with larger social justice issues that immigrants face, including violence and feelings of displacement. The materials in this collection demonstrate her long working relationships with Latino/a Texas art institutions and community groups such as La Peña Gallery, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, and the Mexic-Arte Museum, among others. They also show her connection to other Latina artists, activists, and writers through joint exhibitions and other work activity, such as her book jackets for Marjorie Agosín's novels. Gloria Anzaldúa, whose friendship with Wilson was greatly influential to her work, is represented in this collection in various publications, conference materials, and personal items.
The Artwork series consists of original paintings, drawings, sketches, and sketchbooks, as well as prints and photocopies of Wilson's work. Most of the art pieces in this collection are not inscribed with their titles, but titles of some works can be found in the Ofrenda manuscript which contains photos and titles of finished paintings and drawings. This series includes sketches of Muerte en la Frontera and a version of Bearing Witness. Additional original artwork and reproductions can be found in Oversize Materials.
Printed Materials contains flyers, programs, and promotional materials for various group and solo exhibitions that occurred in Texas and New Mexico, including Ofrenda, Wilson's retrospective exhibition that accompanied the book publication; Waterflows at the San Antonio Museum of Art; and multiple exhibitions at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center and La Peña Gallery. Also included are reproductions of Wilson's artwork for use on book jackets, cards, and posters. Additional posters can be found in Oversize Materials.
The Professional Activities series consists of incoming letters, artist agreements, and annotated itineraries for an opening at Galeria Tepín in New Mexico and a working visit to the University of Missouri Kansas City. The letters in this series pertain to the publication of Ofrenda, as well as thank you notes for purchased artworks and university campus visits.
The Publicationsseries contains East Austin Studio Tour gallery books, an annotated pre-publication sample review copy of Ofrenda: Liliana Wilson's Art of Dissidence and Dreams, a published book from Gloria Anzaldúa's library (with inscription), and academic publications such as Reflexiones from the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) at the University of Texas at Austin. A print of a poem by Marjorie Agosín can be found in Oversize Materials.
Personal Materials and Subject Files consist primarily of letters, notes, cards, and invitations received by Wilson from friends, notably Nancy "Rusty" Barceló, former president of Northern New Mexico College, and Lidia and Cynthia Pérez, founders of La Peña Gallery where Wilson began her career as an exhibiting artist. Also included are materials she kept pertaining to conferences honoring the memory and work of Gloria Anzaldúa and personal planning books. The few photographs in the collection include a group photograph of Liliana Wilson, Lourdes Pérez, Annette D'Armata, Jordana Barton, and Lisa Montoya and a photograph of Lilian Wilson with Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor.
Oversize Materials contains several photocopy enlargements of Wilson's sketches that were used for tracing and transfer, including Girl and Snake, Bearing Witness, Nubes, A Circus on my Head, Niños Immigrantes, Sábila Sagrada, and Mi Reina. Also included are posters featuring Wilson's artwork, some of which are signed; untitled original drawings, sketches, and a painting; prints and photocopies ofvFamilia de Exito, El Arbol, and Building Men; an original pencil sketch of La Espera; and newspapers and clippings about Wilson and her work.
Dates
- Creation: 1989
- Creation: 1996-2017
Language of Materials
English, Spanish
Access Restrictions
Unrestricted.
Use Restrictions
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Biographical Sketch
Liliana Wilson is a Texas-based visual artist known for her drawings and paintings dealing with themes of trauma, emotion, immigration, womanhood, and social justice. Born in 1953 in Valparaíso, Chile, Wilson was the third out of five children born to a merchant marine father and a homemaker mother. She attended a Catholic primary school run by French nuns and began drawing when she was eight years old after a scooter accident left her bedridden for two months. In 1971, she entered law school at Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. In 1973, Wilson experienced the political turmoil following the election of Salvador Allende and the subsequent military coup that installed military dictator Augusto Pinochet. The Pinochet era lasted from 1973 to 1990 and was marked by violence, terror, and human rights violations with over 40,000 victims of torture, political imprisonment, or death. These experiences influenced Wilson's early artwork.
Though Wilson had an early interest in drawing, she would not have access to art education until moving to Austin, Texas in 1977. Encouraged by local Chicana artists and activists, she began studying drawing at Austin Community College and later studied printmaking and painting at Southwest Texas State University. Throughout much of the 1980s and early 1990s, she worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for local foundations, galleries, and national publishers.
In 1995, Wilson attended a five-week residency program in Saratoga, California, Entre Americas: El Taller Nepantla (Between Americas: The Nepantla Workshop), which was organized by Gloria Anzaldúa in collaboration with MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americano). This workshop marked the beginning of her friendship with Anzaldúa, a prominent scholar and writer in Chicana theory, feminist theory, and queer theory. Wilson's friendship and creative connection with Anzaldúa influenced her work, particularly the concept of nepantla (in-between-ness, between worlds). Wilson's primary mediums are color pencil drawings on paper and wood and acrylic paintings on canvas and wood. She describes her method as intuitive and driven by emotion. Her artwork often depicts surrealistic figures and dream-like settings, juxtaposing beauty and suffering.
With the exception of a period of time spent in San Francisco, California (1996-2003), Wilson has lived and worked in central Texas. Since her first solo exhibit in 1989 at La Peña Gallery in Austin, she has continued to exhibit widely throughout Texas and the United States, with showings at La Peña Gallery, East Austin Studio Tour, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (San Antonio, Texas), Mexic-Arte Museum (Austin, Texas), Benson Latin American Collection, and San Antonio Museum of Art, among others. Internationally, she has shown work in Mexico, Argentina, and Italy. Wilson has received numerous awards including Best of Show at Works on Paper 2000 at the Jewish Community Center, Palo Alto and first prize at the 1993 Juried Woman's Art Exhibit at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Wilson's body of work was the subject of a 2015 monograph edited by Norma E. Cantú entitled Ofrenda: Liliana Wilson's Art of Dissidence and Dreams (Texas A & M Press, 2015). The book features contributions from acclaimed feminist scholars including Antonia Castañeda, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Anzaldúa, and other writers. Accompanying the publication of Ofrenda, a retrospective of over 30 years of her art was on exhibition at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center from July 11, 2015 through August 29, 2015.
As of fall 2021, Liliana Wilson continues to live and work as an artist in Texas.
Full Extent
6 linear feet
Abstract
This collection documents Liliana Wilson's career as a visual artist in the United States from 1996 through 2017. It highlights her importance in the Austin Latin American community as well as her personal and professional relationships with Latina and Chicana artists, scholars, and writers, particularly Gloria Anzaldúa. A monograph on Wilson's body of work, Ofrenda: Liliana Wilson's Art of Dissidence and Dreams, was published in 2015. An annotated publication review sample of the book is included in the collection. Much of Wilson's work was inspired by her experience in Chile during the height of political upheaval in the 1970s. This collection includes original pieces, sketchbooks, and reproductions of her artwork. It also provides a record of her place in the Texas art community through newspaper clippings, gallery books, and programs for conferences that Wilson participated in as an artist and panelist.
Acquisition Information
Donation and purchase.
Accession numbers: 2011-05, 2012-13, 2015-26, 2017-71
Additions
Further materials are expected for this collection.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Melissa Aslo De La Torre and Sydney Muster (UT School of Information Interns), Fall 2021.
- Title
- Liliana Wilson Papers
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
- Date
- 2010
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- 2021 January: Edited by Carla O. Alvarez to fix compliance check errors to prepare for the migration to new TARO website.
- 2021 November: Edited by Devon Murphy to update control access terms and formatting based on the TARO Control Access List.
- 2021: Finding aid udated by Melissa Aslo De La Torre and Sydney Muster.
- 2025 July: Revised by Ryan Sullivant to fix validation errors prior to ingestion into ArchivesSpace.
- 2026: Edited by Carla O. Alvarez.
Repository Details
Part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin Repository
2300 Red River Street
Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4578
bensonspecialcollections@austin.utexas.edu