Artwork stories · Río Blanco, Veracruz

Inner Child: Painting on Fabric in Río Blanco, Veracruz

Created in 2023, Inner Child brings together two acrylic paintings on fabric made during a four-week artist residency in Río Blanco, Veracruz. The setting—a former textile factory—gave the material choice a connection to the history of the place.

A material connected to place

Working inside a former textile factory, Anastasia Shi painted directly on fabric. The surface connects the works to the building’s industrial past while opening another direction: childhood, curiosity and play. The project holds these different associations together rather than separating its material from the circumstances in which it was made.

Río Blanco provides a specific geographic context within Shi’s international practice. Based in Mexico City, the artist has developed work across different places and materials. Here, the residency gave a sustained period of attention to one site and to an emotional subject that reaches beyond it.

Play as an ongoing need

The series approaches the inner child as a part of adult life that continues to seek wonder and emotional attention. Responsibility and routine can push playfulness aside. These paintings return to it as something to keep alive, rather than a stage that must be left behind.

That concern connects Inner Child with the broader questions of memory, identity and transformation in Shi’s artistic practice. The work’s relationship to a particular place gives those questions a material starting point.

Understanding the two-part work

The dimensions describe each painting: 200 × 200 cm. They are not a combined measurement for both works. Collectors and curators can consult the artwork record and contact the studio for additional images, current availability and viewing information.