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MATAMOROS, Mexico — Three miles away from the Brownsville International Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico, sits a decades-old housing complex in dire need of an exterior facelift.
“I’m working on three grandmothers," said Rosa Alejandra Zertuche as she cautiously stood on a 1-foot narrow plank five stories above the ground. This is the third one I am working on. I tried to keep it as simple as possible so that it wouldn’t be too much work. And they are all embroidering the tree of life.”
Zertuche is an American artist selected by the Matamoros Cultural and Arts Institute to beautify a not-so-attractive side of apartment building. To complete the roughly 50-foot-tall creative project, the muralist had to overcome her fear of heights.
After climbing to the top of the last section of the wobbly scaffolding structure, I asked my climbing partner what I thought to be an important question: "What was it like, the first time you climbed?”
Alejandra quickly responded, “I cried!”
Not the answer I was expecting.
“I came the first day I went all the way to the top. I just sat there," Zertuche said. "I kind of cried a little bit then said, ‘OK!’”
Zertuche is the only female artist out of five tasked by the cultural institute to paint five separate buildings. Each artist chose a different look and theme surrounding multiculturalism and immigration, topics that continue to tie the United States and Mexico together.
“I was born in Texas, but I lived my whole life here in Matamoros," said the artist. "It’s like my hometown. But I went to school over there, so [I] was crossing every day.”
Family could be an additional theme for the big project. Zertuche's Mexican father, a dentist by trade, is a major influence for her chosen profession.
“He also did theater. So, he knew a lot of artists and introduced me to a lot of people, got me art classes when I was 14,” said Zertuche.
Her paternal inspiration passed away almost a decade ago. But with almost every delicate stroke of the brush, she gently wishes he could see the completion of her largest accomplishment.
“Yeah, the other day I was up here, and my mom was down there, and I told her, ’I wish Dad was here,’ and she was like, ‘I was thinking the exact same thing,’” said Zertuche.
Perhaps the patriarch of this cross-border family is watching from a place much higher than from where Zertuche is leaving her mark. Regardless of the international boundary, she invites everyone to come check out her work of art.
“I would love it if people would actually come see our work because we put so much love into it,” Zertuche said.
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July 17, 2021 at 05:16PM
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Texas artist finishes 'tallest accomplishment' in Mexico - Spectrum News
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