My work is a reflection of personal border experiences: the interconnectedness of societies, insisting on beauty in struggle, and celebrating the notion of “seeing” this world through my tri-cultural lens. With thread and needle, I continue to express the quiet rage that has permeated the Americas for over 500 years.

Consuelo Jimenez Underwood (she/her) was born in Sacramento, California, the daughter of migrant agricultural workers, a Chicano mother and a father of Huichol Indian descent. Crossing borders and negotiating between three perspectives has always been fundamental to her identity and the basis of her creative process. Consuelo’s work ranges from delicate miniature tapestries to monumental fiber and mixed media installations juxtaposing the natural beauty and ecological destruction along the US/Mexico border.

Consuelo has exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally for more than thirty years. Her work is part of the permanent collections of museums such as the Smithsonian American Museum of Art, Museum of Art & Design in New York, the National Hispanic Center for the Arts, New Mexico, the Mexican Museum in San Francisco, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Oakland Museum of California. She was awarded the 2017 Master Artist Grant from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture and was elected to the Council of Fellows of the American Craft Council in 2018. She was a 2021 recipient of the James Renwick Alliance for Craft Masters of the Medium Award.Consuelo received her BA and MA from San Diego State University. She began teaching fiber art at San Jose State University in 1987, where she received her MFA. Now retired, she taught for more than twenty years, developing a vibrant fiber program, inspiring young artists to embrace thread. Consuelo’s work will be examined in depth in the anthology, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood: Art, Weaving, Vision, edited by Laura E. Pérez, PhD. and Ann Marie Leimer, PhD.