Audio
Written by Teresa Palomo Acosta
Read by Teresa Palomo Acosta
Consuelo (called Chelo) González Amezcua, a poet and artist, was born in 1903 in Mexico, but gained acclaim for the "filigree art" drawings she did in Texas, which drew inspiration from pre-Columbian, Mexican American, and Egyptian history. Other favorite subjects included birds, flowers, women, and architecture. Her unique drawing technique reflected the elaborate metal work found in Mexican jewelry.
Using ballpoint pens and paper or cardboard, she drew incalculable, intricate, and miniscule lines in black and white, with splashes of green, blue, or red, to create each piece. In later years, she also used felt tip pens and a wider color palette. For a period, she carved complex drawings onto shell stone she found on the Pecos River in Del Rio, where she lived most of her life.
Occasionally, she added her own poetry to her drawings or included explanatory comments on the back of a work. Collected in a book called Cantares y Poemas, her poems were drawn from her experience growing up along the border, her friends, faith, family, and her support for the Chicano Movement.
In 1968, she had a solo exhibition at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. Her work was also shown in Mexico, across Texas, and in Massachusetts, New Mexico, the Bronx Museum, and at galleries in New York City.
González Amezcua died in 1975, at age 72.
Resources
María-Cristina García, "GONZALEZ AMEZCUA, CONSUELO," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgohg).
Audio Source Information
Our project, "Texas Women's History Moments," received the 2012 National Council on Public History Outstanding Public History Award and the American Association for State and Local History Leadership in History Award. The audio clips were broadcast on KUT radio from 2011-2016 during Women’s History Month.