Holding it Together
With each stroke of the paintbrush, vibrant colors cover the canvas, images start to form, and the canvas is transformed into a beautiful piece of art. The artist pours her heart into her paintings and uses both her surroundings and life experiences to convey messages of kinship and empowerment.
The artist is Yesenia Magdaleno-Solis ‘20, Alumni Relations Community Engagement Manager and former Ignatian Center “superstar.”
"My heart speaks in colors,” Yesi explained, “ so by creating art it gives me the ability to express myself in ways I sometimes can’t verbalize. Art allows me to bring myself back to the present moment as I can be aware of all the emotions I’m feeling and channel them to create something beautiful."
In a sense, art became a form of therapy for Yesi, a way for her to hone in on her feelings and work through them.
"Art has given me a sense of peace and true joy that I haven’t found anywhere else."
As Yesi transitioned into her first year at SCU, that sense of peace and joy was truly challenged as she navigated being away from her support system.
“Growing up with my family and hometown, they truly embraced and supported me, so I felt very homesick my first two years of undergrad. I felt like I was in a whole new place and longed to find my community.”
She attributes both the LEAD Scholars program and her work with the Ignatian Center for allowing her to find a sense of belonging.
“The LEAD Scholars Program and Ignatian Center communities showed me that someone did genuinely care and wanted to know me, not just for my first generation experience and cultural background. I found a new sense of confidence as each community pushed me to find better, new, and different ways to empower myself to succeed. These communities made me recognize my potential and I truly felt unstoppable thanks to them. They gave me opportunities to challenge myself and to develop into the person I am today.”
Yesi’s first experience with both the Ignatian Center and the LEAD program combined was through a Dominican Republic Immersion trip.
“This immersion allowed me to feel connected with my peers and the communities I was involved in. We were a group of strangers coming together for this experience. We were all guided through other people’s life experiences and struggles.”
At first, Yesi grappled with the idea of going into marginalized and exploited communities, but soon recognized that the people wanted to open their doors and homes to the participating students and share their life experiences.
“These people wanted to share a part of themselves with us. This immersion allowed the students and community members to be there for and with someone. It pulled us away from our reality that can be really busy and challenging to then have a moment in time to share a bond with someone. Even though we may not see this community again, the moment to come together and bond was a really special aspect for me. That’s why I continued my Ignatian Center experiences for the rest of my undergraduate years.”
It was during this time that Yesenia began to receive requests to share her artwork with the community and commissioned a few pieces on the SCU campus, including a mural within the University’s Library. This opportunity not only allowed her to showcase her work, but was also a way to express to others that her art is an essential part of who she is.
“Within my work there are always two sources of inspiration that can be seen," Yesi explained.
"One of them is nature and the other comes from my experiences with social justice work."
Yesi has always loved nature and found inspiration in it.
"There is always some natural aspect in my work whether it's a tree or a hummingbird. I found that it was through nature that I can be physically grounded with what’s around me.”
Another inspiration that can be seen throughout her artwork was the impact of the various social justice experiences with the Ignatian Center.
The remainder of Yesi’s Ignatian Center experience included participating and leading various Immersion trips such as the San Jose First Year Immersion, as well as working as a Student Assistant for Arrupe Engagement.
“The Ignatian Center built a community of belonging where everyone was supported and uplifted,” Yesi explained. “There were countless ways in which the staff and other students at the time were kind and open to helping me develop my leadership skills. In the coming years, they later asked me to commission paintings for their publication the Explore Journal, which led to other opportunities for my art to be shown on campus.”
One of these pieces was Holding it Together.
“Holding it Together was a very touching and heartfelt piece for me,” Yesi shared.
“The inspiration for this painting came from two places. The first was about a person that I loved that helped me throughout the pandemic. This person was there for me when I was really struggling and helped me hold myself together. They showed me an eternal love that I didn’t think was possible before. The second inspiration was to create a piece that spoke about the racial injustices that were happening. During this time I was just thinking, why can't we just live in this place and time and be happy with each other and why can’t we just hold each other. So in that sense the two hands touching was a reflection of my previous relationship and my grasping what’s occurring around the world. For one of the hands I tried to make it older and aged looking. When I thought about someone who brought peace and joy to others, I thought of my grandmother. She was someone who you wouldn’t know and yet she would bless you as she passed. That to me was an example of something I admired and couldn’t put into words, so I painted all of this into the Holding It Together piece to express these experiences.”
Through her artistic endeavors and her work with the Ignatian Center, Yesenia built long lasting relationships and a strong sense of confidence that later transferred into her current work as the Assistant Director for Community Engagement and Students & Identity. Her current work allows her to form communities with alumni and current students to foster the same sense of belonging that she felt as a student at SCU. Yesenia exemplifies the Ignatian spirit of speaking from the heart and working to create meaningful connections - in this case, through color.
- Zoe Barton '24
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