Ruiz-Healy Art presents So marvelous, de nuevo florece, a solo exhibition by San Antonio-based artist Daniela Oliver de Portillo. The exhibition will be on view in San Antonio from August 27 to September 13, 2025, with an opening reception on August 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. An artist talk featuring Ashley Mireles, Creative Consultant and Cultural Planner contracted by the San Antonio River Foundation, will be held on September 13 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Her work serves as an exploration of the domestic space, embodying the complexities of modern womanhood, family relations, and the weight of societal and self-imposed expectations.

Oliver de Portillo’s process is complex—digital and cyanotype photo processes, drawings, floral arrangements, and hand-formed ceramic vases reflect the nuances of everyday life for mothers. The use of flowers is often at the forefront of the work, long associated with domestic beauty, celebration, and ritual, serving as a metaphor for the duality of perceived effortlessness and the deep complexities of motherhood. Her work aims to reveal what lies beneath society’s reduced roles and expectations: the stories, histories, and identities beyond first impressions.

A mother of two children, Oliver de Portillo uses her artistic practice to explore self-identity. The artist explains, “I carved out a space—both physical and mental—for making, not without struggle, but with fierce dedication and the belief that I could be both artist and mother, whole and fractured, lost and still finding.” Her titles, always presented in both English and Spanish, provide insight into her bicultural identity as a Mexican living in the U.S. since 2002, serving as personal reflections on navigating two cultures.

This body of work quietly celebrates surviving and thriving through the disruption that is becoming a mother. It honors the tension, the labor, the beauty, and the transformation. It is for the mothers in the midst of it—those who feel unseen, divided, or on the edge. With this work, I say: I see you. I know you. You are still becoming. And you will bloom again.

(Text by Daniela Oliver de Portillo)