2023 MEMENTO JURORS
Larla Morales
Abilene TX
Larla Morales (b.1992) is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Abilene, Texas. Her Visayan heritage and ever deepening connection to Texas and the Southwest is foundational to her work as a creative. In her current body of work she has been exploring the relationship of the natural world and the synthetic. She employs ancient art-making techniques alongside contemporary media and practices, allowing for a dialogue between past, present and future to occur in her pieces.
Simon Welch, WF/TX
Simon Welch is a multi-media artist whose disciplines span photography, graphic design, illustration, sculpture, and printmaking. His work is characterized by a mix of nostalgia, humor (sometimes dark), and self-awareness as he shares his life journey and experiences. Simon has been a part of MEMENTO since its inception and uses this exhibition as a platform to explore his family dynamic and history in an unconventional and humorous way. Simon believes that MEMENTO is an opportunity for an artist to submit creative and unique work that can be both cathartic and freeing, allowing them to explore and express difficult memories both pleasant and terrible.
Brandy Belk
WF/TX
Brandy Belk grew up in a family of cooks. Her memories of the sounds, smells, and action of preparing meals with her mother, grandmothers, and aunts are filled with love and laughter.
“Food brings people together. We all understand the language of Love through food. I grew up making flawless cinnamon rolls with my mom all the time, and then when I was in pastry school my cinnamon rolls didn’t get a perfect score! With Mom it was an all-day activity full of fun and no pressure. Pastry school was about deadlines and timelines and perfection. Once Time is gone, we can’t get it back. Preparing food for someone is giving them your time AND your Love.” As a juror for the MEMENTO exhibition Brandy is hoping to see people’s passion, intention, and time reflected in their work. “I want to be able to look at a piece of art and instantly know the artist cared about and loved their piece.”
Brandy is the owner and chef of Suga B’s Cafe and Catering in WF/TX.
Aaron Soto
WF/TX
Aaron Soto is a Texas-based visual artist primarily working in figurative portraits of humans and animals, painted with oils and acrylics. "When I’m not painting professionally, I enjoy sketching. I might make little faces on a calendar or I draw little moments that I catch when I observe people, possibly with a little quote, and give them the drawing. They are usually ridiculous and humorous, but they make people happy. In that way I think of my art as a means of spreading happiness. Even something as simple as a frog with cowboy boots on a post-it note can be kept and recalled with fondness. In reviewing the works submitted for MEMENTO, I will be glad to see what memories have been preserved in the pieces, and what stories they carry with them." Aaron has created several murals in Wichita Falls, including Sunset at the Falls mural inside the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce and, most recently the Lift Station #25 Mural for the City of Wichita Falls.