- Show Abstract (about the exhibition), Text
- Artists’ biography, Text
- Tactile Object List, Transcript
- Creative Access Tour, Transcript
- Curatorial Essay, by Vance Wright
- Transcript for Untitled (A volar entre rocas) video
Show Abstract
A volar entre rocas is an intimate processing of self, relation to place, and migration. Aspects of memory and home are raised alongside questions about land, place, and power. Mariana Muñoz Gomez brings their two homes on opposite ends of Turtle Island into relation with one another through an engagement with the natural and social histories surrounding Tyndall stone and volcanic rock as vessels of time, embodiments of movement, witnesses to history, and links between distant places. A volar entre rocas compares and contrasts experiences and knowledge surrounding the artist’s two homes by exploring feelings derived from diaspora, including considerations of memory, movement, reaching, and belonging.
Mariana developed this body of work through what they describe as a diasporic introspection: noticing when experiences in one home reminded them of another; spending time with photographs, videos, memories; and researching their homeland on the internet.
Acknowledgements
This exhibition is supported by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Artist Biography
Mariana Muñoz Gomez
Mariana Muñoz Gomez (they/them) is a Mexican artist, writer, and curator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty 1 Territory. Their art practice is often lens-based, involving a variety of media including text, screen prints, video art, and photography. Their practice explores place, identity, and language, and how these topics intersect with coloniality, temporality, and relationality. Mariana has been involved with various Winnipeg collectives and they are currently a managing co-editor of Carnation Zine. They were longlisted for the New Generation Photography Award in 2023.
Visit Mariana’s website at www.marianamunoz.ca
Tactile Object (welcome station)
Note: a laminated PDF in gallery of this informaion is also available.
Tactile Objects:
2D Site Map
3D Dollhouse Gallery Map
Tactile Materials, provided by artist:
- Washi Prints: The printed images on wall at grunt gallery were printed onto Washi Paper using Chine Collé and adhered to the walls using rice paste. An example of the print is available to touch at the welcome station.
- Vinyl Lettering: On the East and West walls (left and right of the entrance) are vinyl sentences applied at different heights throughout the show. The vinyl is almost the same colour as the rusty, clay orange coloured walls, disappearing and reappearing from view as you move and the light hits the plastic surface. A few of these vinyl letters are adhered to a plastic sheet at the front stage. A high contrast layout of the text is also available in the Exhibition binder.
Creative Access Audio Tour
Coming soon.
Curatorial Essay
Title: by Vance Wright
Coming soon.
Untitled (A volar entre rocas), video
Video Visual Summary and Transcript
Video by: Mariana Muñoz Gomez
Spanish Captions, and English subtitles by: Mariana Muñoz Gomez
Exhibition in Vancouver, September 2025, produced by: grunt gallery
Transcript by Kira Saragih and Kay Slater, July 2025
Open captions are displayed in the exhibition video.
An audio described track is available through the Yoto Audio players available at the welcome station.
Visual Summary:
A video of short scenes featuring life in Mexico.Throughout the film, there is a focus on the built environment, especially gates, fences and walls, and the varied materials used in their construction.
It begins with digital imagery inside a photo editing program, showing cropped images of plants. The footage shifts between the digital workspace and documentary-style clips filmed in urban and rural environments.
Scenes include a quiet pool with fish and turtles, a hilltop lookout in a rural town, and foliage in a park, juxtaposed against city footage from atop a moving bus or through a car window while driving. A brief scene shows a street protest with flags waving and shouts echoing beneath historical narration, within the otherwise quiet observational flow of the film.
The video concludes back within the editing software, with a series of written reflections by the artist in both English and Spanish.
Note: The video contains audio in Spanish. Transcript is written in English for the exhibition, A volar entre rocas, hosted at grunt gallery. Any Spanish text will be identified, but not translated nor included in Spanish for the sake of English screen readers. Visual description has been integrated into the transcript.
Transcript:
Visual Description (ID): An extreme close-up of green leaves fills the screen. It is revealed to be a screen capture inside a photo editing program. A marquee selection outlines several leaves, its animated dotted line moving like a trail of ants. On a Mac desktop, application icons appear. The user tabs through: Safari’s compass icon, then QuickTime Player’s “Q” icon. QuickTime is selected. A dropdown menu opens, then closes. The screen recording overlay appears, with a marquee border surrounding the entire screen. The cursor clicks the stop button, ending the recording. Now outdoors, gem-green water is filmed via a handheld camera. A sunlit fish darts away and exits. Nearby, small turtles swim slowly. Beneath the rippling surface, schools of fish move in tight formation. In the foreground, grasses at the water’s edge sway in the breeze, showing that the camera is positioned on shore.
00:00:43
[voces bajas e indiscernibles al fondo durante el clip] [indiscernible, soft voices in the background throughout]ID: The camera shifts unsteadily as it’s moved by hand, then focuses on a larger turtle with a smaller turtle perched on its back. They rest on a submerged step near the shoreline. Deep cabbage red and kale green coloured leaves fan out like ribbons from plants growing at the water’s edge. Winged insects circle above. The smaller turtle’s head snaps side to side in quick, springy motions. Another turtle enters the frame from deeper water, and the smaller turtle turns sharply to watch it approach.
00:01:05
[un niño grita y se escucha que corre] [a child yells and can be heard running]00:01:11
[voces bajas e imperceptibles al fondo] [indiscernible, soft voices in the background]ID: The approaching turtle pivots and swims back toward the open, green-tinted water.
00:01:23
[sonido de algo raspando el suelo; voces bajas al fondo] [sound of something scraping on the floor;soft voices in the background]
ID: The sunny day creates a bright reflection on the water’s surface, with clouds and surrounding trees mirrored clearly in the water below. 7s
00:01:38
[indiscernible] “Do you see that little one? Do you see that little one?” [indiscernible] “¿Ves la pequeña? ¿Ves la pequeña?”00:01:42
“Yeah”
“Sí”
[indiscernible, conversación baja] [indiscernible, soft conversation]00:01:50
[sonido de algo raspando el suelo, alguien tose] [sound of something scraping on the floor, someone coughs]ID: A large fish, the length of the resting turtle, swims just below the surface. Sunlight glints off its back as it passes out of frame.
00:02:22
[voces bajas e indiscernibles, gorgoreo de pájaros] [indiscernible, soft voices; birds chirping]ID: A small turtle surfaces and swims toward the lounging turtles on the submerged step. As it approaches, its body is obscured by a bright glare on the water, disappearing into the sunlit reflection.
00:02:44
[alguien habla] [person speaking]ID: The large fish reappears, swimming back into view.
ID: Cut to an aerial view of a town, seen from a green hillside.
00:02:51
“Ahí se ve Cholula…”
[voces al fondo] [voices in the background]ID: The video captures a full panoramic view from a square, hilltop lookout. As the camera turns, the videographer’s thumb briefly covers part of the frame, and the hands and arms of other visitors come into view. The camera shifts from horizontal to vertical orientation as it completes the turn, capturing both the environment and the surrounding people.
The space is a paved patio made of clean, square stone. A low, waist-high ledge made of warm painted stone surrounds the area, creating a safe and visible boundary. Several visitors are seated or standing along the ledge, gazing out at the view or taking a rest. Most wear casual travel clothing, such as cotton shirts, jeans, and leggings, in pastel or neutral tones. The sky is overcast, but the brightness behind the clouds suggests full daylight beyond.
At the centre of the square stands a painted building. The visible side features alternating bands of mango and wine tones, interrupted by tall, vertical windows. Each window is edged with white painted trim, flat against the surface with no sill. A rusted iron grid is built into the wall, fully covering each window. Between the windows, wide, triangular stone columns jut outward and upward, forming a repeating structural feature that extends to the roofline. The first storey of the building is visible with a white metal railing tracing the top edge.
In the distance, the camera captures a sweeping view of a small city or large town. The buildings below are mostly low-rise, no more than three stories tall. A compact cluster of office towers marks the downtown area farther out. The surrounding landscape is dense with green trees and framed by rolling hills or soft, rounded mountains. The terrain feels rural, gentle, and expansive.
ID: From the top of a moving bus, now in the city.
00:03:17
[el motor del camion se acelera ruidosamente] [engine of the bus revs loudly]00:03:20
“A la derecha está el Palacio Nacional.”
ID: Cut to black.
ID: In front of a large, flat-leaved plant, another tree stretches upward. Behind them, tall bamboo stalks frame a grassy area.
00:03:27
[se eschucha un pájaro, chirriando] [bird chirping, squeaking]ID: Through a car window, a row of parked cars line a street beside a stone wall covered in ivy. Sunlight reflects sharply off the car’s exterior.
00:03:39
[alarma de coche sona en la distancia] [car alarm going off in the distance]00:03:53
[sonidos del coche en una calle llena de baches]ID: The car turns a corner, still following the stone wall. The parked cars are gone. The continuous wall is interrupted at intervals by gated openings, revealing glimpses of yards or courtyards. As the car continues, the wall changes—some sections are painted with textured stone, others with red brick, and some plain white walls are covered in graffiti.
The car slows as it climbs a small hill, then turns left onto a new street. Here, the gates and buildings press directly against the sidewalk. The facades form an uninterrupted row, with no visible breaks between properties. Each is differentiated only by the colour or material of its gate or exterior—stone, metal, or painted surface. As the car speeds up, the building facades blur past the window.
00:04:00
[sounds of the car bumping along]00:04:29
[sonidos del coche en una calle llena de baches,y el sonido suave del motor del coche]
[bumps and soft sound of the car engine]00:04:44
[chirridos de frenos] [car brakes squeaking]00:05:17
“Siento que estoy ahí…”
ID: Various trees line the sidewalk–some with well-trimmed square crowns, others with crooked trunks, all casting shade onto the street. The car slows down to turn right, passing a few cars stopped at the intersection.
00:05:28
[chirridos de frenos] [car brakes squeaking]00:05:37
“Quizás será un lunes,
alomejor martes,
jueves, domingo, miércoles…
y no recuerdo a dónde vamos ahora
pero, probablemente a la casa de mi tía…”
ID: The rows of properties disappear into a landscape of diverse green shrubberies, bordered by a row of metal fencing. The car turns left, following the bend of the road. Rows of short green bushes border the opposing lane, planted on a raised curb with the edges painted mustard-yellow.
00:06:05
[tarareo del coche en la carretera] [humming noise of the car on the road]ID: Lush hedges border the sidewalk, backed by tall, overgrown trees that cast dense shadows. The row of trees gives way to bright, cloudy sky. A row of concrete walls replaces the green hedge. On them are various advertisements for different products. Caught between the walls and a neighbouring property is a glimpse of a lush, green field. The car slows down in front of a gas station as it comes to an intersection.
00:06:38
[chirridos de frenos] [car brakes squeaking]ID: The car passes through the intersection into an area with uninterrupted rows of properties, including storefronts and garages with varying facades that echo previous areas the car passed by.
00:07:00
[alarma de un coche] [car alarm]“Un día, aprendí que Cuauhnāhuac
es el antiguo nombre de Cuernavaca, en Náhuatl.”
00:07:10
[suenan los coches pasando rápido] [sound of cars zooming by]00:07:32
[alarma de coche sona en la distancia] [car alarm going off in the distance]ID: The car slows as it goes over a speed bump, marked by yellow painted stripes on the road. It speeds up as it climbs a small hill where the road is marked by a few potholes and cracks in the pavement. The car slows down to go over a second speed bump in front of a storefront where parked cars sit next to neon orange road barriers. In front of neighbouring properties are more parked cars.
00:08:04
Aprendí que el escudo de la ciudad es un árbol
con…como que, aire que sale de su boca.
ID: The car comes to a stop in front of a white building with blue-tinted glass windows. It remains at a stop for a while.
00:08:19
[alguien tose] [someone coughs]ID: Through the window, manicured trees with rectangular crowns decorate the facade of stuccoed building, casting a cooling shade on the sun-baked road. The leaves on the trees sway gently, shimmering as they reflect the bright sunlight.
00:08:30
[ronroneo del motor del coche] [low hum of car engine]00:08:43
[alarma de coche sona en la distancia] [car alarm going off in the distance]00:08:55
[el coche acelera] [car revs]ID: The car starts to move, passing an intersection where cars are stopped, waiting at a light. Right after the intersection is an area filled with lush greenery. Tall trees tower over wild, overgrown shrubberies that peek over chain-metal fencing. The tree canopy opens to a glaring sun ray that casts a bright glow on the sky and the pavement. The greenery ends at a plain, brick-red building, marking the start of another row of properties.
00:09:30
[claxon] [honk]ID: The car slows down as it goes over a series of consecutive speed bumps.
00:09:34
[golpes de construcción rítmicos] [rhythmic thumping of construction]ID: Cars in the opposing lane also slow down due to the speed bumps.
00:09:44
[los golpes se aceleran] [thumping speeds up]00:09:49
[golpe fuerte, luego se desvance y continúa en la distancia] [loud thump, then fades and continues in distance]ID: The car speeds up again. The clip ends abruptly.
ID: Now filmed from the top of a tour bus. Protest unfolds on the street. Flags wave in the air as people fill the road below.
00:09:54
“— estación.” [gritos de una demonstración] [shouts from a protest]
“el castillo de Chapultepec, (indiscernible) así
con la prolongación de la Calle de Plateros; hoy, Madero.
A partir de la estatua de Carlos IV,
la avenida fue ampliada con el presidente Don Miguel Lerdo de
[charla en el camion] [chatter on the bus]Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, (indiscernible)
con camellonesa derecha e izquierda de
bancas y de árboles y tiene una glorieta
justo colocada en el Monumento a Colón.
Durante el gobierno de Porfirio Díaz
se puso en otra glorieta
la estatua de Cuauhtémoc.
Se abrió el café —”
ID: The screen turns black and remains blank while Spanish captions in a white, serif font appear at the bottom.
“¡Como! ¡Como no sabía…!”
ID: Now inside, a table and chairs are in deep shadow next to a sweet-pink flowered plant before a round glassless window overlooking a street. Peeking past the window’s metal grills, decorated with vertical bars and curving filigree that form a pair of hearts, a small stall with a faded, bitter-orange tarp roof stands in front of a stone-brick wall. Passersby walk leisurely on the street, chatting joyfully with their groups. A black car slowly makes its way down the road, interrupting the flow of pedestrians who quickly follow behind, coming from either direction.
00:10:36
[música fuerte, ¿tal vez una bossa nova lenta?] [loud music, maybe a slow bossa nova?] [la música continúa durante el clip] [music continues throughout] [sigue la música; redoble de platillos] [music continues; cymbal roll]ID: Outside. From the ground, gazing up at towering trees with branches that outstretch into the sky and sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy.
00:11:34
[gorgoreo de pájaros, muy bajo] [very quiet bird sounds]00:11:40
…¡y todas las veces que he ido a Tepoztlán!
ID: Back atop the bus, stopped beside an intersection in the city. Cars and buses pass by while a traffic patrol officer calmly monitors the area. A row of graffiti-covered concrete walls borders the edge of the sidewalk. Beyond the walls, in the distance, multi-story buildings rise over wild, overgrown bushes and trees.
00:11:46
[indiscernible, charla en el camion] [indiscernible, chatter on the bus]00:12:13
“esa esta junta de Bellas Artes”
ID: The bus starts moving. The city street is full of people walking and biking on and around the sidewalk. The clip ends abruptly, cutting to a black screen.
ID: The bus moves through the buildings and trees. The bus stops in front of a pale blue building with metal lettering spelling “HOSPITAL”. A tall bronze statue stands in front, one hand on its opposing wrist, as if taking its own pulse.
00:12:17
[chirridos de los frenos] [brakes squeaking]00:12:22
“—estatua del famoso actor
y cómico mexicano Mario Moreno,
mejor conocido como Cantinflas,
a quien el público adoraba.
Enormemente popular en el mundo de habla hispana,
en sus películas
encarnará a un personaje malhablado,
pero entrañable, humilde, tierno, y (indiscernible),
que sumía (?) todas las desgracias
que el destino le deparaba
para salir siempre victorioso al final.”
ID: The bus moves on, passing a mix of modern and historical buildings that feature ornate facades. The neighbourhood features storefront shops as well as residential buildings with trees lining the sidewalk.
00:12:52
[el motor acelera] [engine revs]“La antigua Avenida Jalisco
adoptó su actual nombre en 1929
a raíz del asesinato de Álvaro Obregón,
ex-presidente de la República Mexicana,
quien habitaba en el número 185.
El trazo de la calle de 45 metros de ancho
permitió la colocación de amplias
aceras laterales y un gran paseo arbolado
dotado de bancas y alumbrado
muy al estilo parisino.
En 1976 se colocaron a lo largo de la avenida
12 fuentes de cantera adornadas con
reproducciones de esculturas en bronce,
las cuales conforman el corredor
de las esculturas de artista del siglo XIX
de la Academia de San Carlos.”
00:13:39
[chirridos de frenos, charla] [brakes squeaking, chatter]ID: The screen turns black.
ID:
Through the window of a fast-moving car, wild greenery on the side of the highway blurs past. Cars in the opposing lane appear for only a split second.
00:13:51
[se escucha el aire recortando contra el micrófono] [air clipping against the microphone]ID: The screen cuts to black.
ID: Inside a photo editing program, free-form cropped images of stone walls are layered on top of each other, with a prominent green-leafed plant in the bottom right corner. The stone walls have varying densities and ratios of rocks within them, some dark volcanic ash grey and others soft granite. The screen zooms in and out as a white circular cursor appears and begins to erase parts of the images, blending the harsh lines seamlessly into each other.
The artist reflects in white captions silently written on screen:
00:15:07
[Text: ] Google Maps tells me that the Tepozteco is a small pyramid at the top of that hike I never finished!ID: The screen zooms in further. The circular cursor sweeps over the image using a photo editing tool that copies nearby stone textures to blend and brighten the area, particularly along the pale mortar between stones. As the cursor moves across a gap, part of the overlapping image disappears, briefly revealing the white-and-grey checkerboard background used in editing programs to show transparency. The background is quickly covered by another pass of the cursor. The cursor continues its detailed edits as captions appear on screen. They read:
00:15:20
[Text: ] El internet tells me that el Tepozteco was named after Tepoztécatl, god of pulque and fertility.ID: The screen zooms in even further, scrolling up and down while the cursor moves around to touch up certain areas. Captions read:
00:16:11
[Text: ] Pues, ahí me distraigo por un rato…ID: The screen zooms out, displaying a bigger picture that reveals a partial image of an arched window, framed by red bricks surrounded by a stone wall. The image has been cropped and edited to blend into the surrounding stone wall images. Parts of the background transparent canvas is exposed. Captions continue combining English and Spanish in the same lines of text.
00:16:19
[Text: ] …en las fotos de otros, veo ese estilo de pareden la ciudad rodeando la pirámide…
…veo gente sentándose, dangling their legs off the pyramid…
…veo rocas volcánicas…
…I see carved stones…
…a beautiful sunset on the hills…groups of people
taking photos…restaurants…
…a group of hikers approaching some animals—marsupials? …
…veo posters informativos de la Secretaría de Cultura…
didactics written in Spanish and English.
ID: Zooming in gets up close to a section where two stone wall images border each other. The program’s layers panel opens on the right, a mouse cursor selects a different layer in the list, and the panel closes. The cursor blends the borders seamlessly. Various areas of the stone walls zoom in and out as the cursor continues blending sections of the image. To allow for more seamless stitching of the dark stone of one image with the light stone of another, the cursor uses a blurry, fuzzy technique with organic strokes so that the seams appear like the natural striations and dimensions of stone. Captions on screen continue.
00:19:01
[Text: ] These rocks have been here for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, absorbing and recording history.ID: The edits continue.
The screen zooms in so close that the images are blurred, the resolution not sufficient at this zoom. It shifts back so that the sharp lines still apparent between the layered photos is visible, and the edits continue. The top of the flat leaved plant peeks up from the bottom of the screen.
Focused on the green leafed plant, attention is given to edges between the leaves where the photos overlap. They are filled and blurred together.
The screen zooms in again allowing for micro edits where the overlap of the images are less apparent at regular magnification. A different brush tool is swapped in with a softer edge to create a feathery blur for the sharper edges.
The image zooms out fully, revealing the entire composition. In areas where the overlapping photos of differently sized and coloured stones have been edited, the surface begins to resemble a continuous rock face. Elsewhere, unfinished sections expose the white-and-grey checkerboard background of the editing program. The screen slowly fades to black.
Credits:
“Mariana Muñoz Gomez 2021/22”.
Audio editing and mixing – J. Riley Hill,
Funded by:
Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art,
Queer and Trans People of Colour Winnipeg,
University of Manitoba Institute for the Humanities, Winnipeg Arts Council, and
Manitoba Arts Council
The screen goes black.