Rio Quezada 2025

Abstract

The Church is a Dog Park is a mixed media installation project that explores grief, memory, and the processing of loss through tactile art making. The work honors Ellen, an influential figure in the artist's life who took her own life in October 2023 due to health issues. Ellen, affectionately known as "the crazy dog lady" in their community, fostered numerous dogs and served as a third parental figure to the artist. The project's title stems from the poignant discovery that Ellen spent her final moments at what others called a church but she experienced as a dog park—a green space where she frequently walked her dogs. The installation comprises four primary components: ceramic figurines representing dogs significant to their shared history, embroidered and mended denim overalls symbolizing Ellen's practical nature, a weighted puppy-shaped soft sculpture referencing memories of carrying sleepy puppies during walks, and a variable edition of woodblock prints depicting The Dark Corner, a meaningful landscape from their walks together. Each medium serves as a different avenue for processing grief—the repetitive motions of embroidery, the grounding quality of clay work, and the layered transformations of printmaking mirror the complexities of mourning. Influenced by artists like Zoe Leonard, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Alison Bechdel, the work examines how objects and natural environments become vessels for memory. The project is informed by research on trauma, emotional connection in mammals, tactile art as therapy, and the concept of "a good death." Through visible mending, variable editions, and interactive elements, the project explores how grief, like art making, is a transformative process—not obscuring damage but acknowledging it while creating something newly meaningful.