“It’s Mine Too”: Edwing Mendez on Serape, Identity, and the Right to Belong.

Woven for the Cosmos, 2025. A digital serape stitched in starlight – by Edwing Mendez.

In his newest visual piece, Woven for the Cosmos, designer and artist Edwing Mendez weaved memory, culture, and digital experimentation into a bold and vulnerable expression of belonging.

The serape, a common thread throughout his childhood, becomes more than just a textile. It becomes a question. A mirror. A home. 

“I think that urge or feeling of disconnection kind of came about probably when I first went to Mexico as a teenager,” Edwing shares. “I realized I was an American in Mexico, but not Mexican American enough in the US either,” That duality—of being too much of one thing and not enough of the other—is something second-generation immigrants know all too well. For Edwing, it wasn’t just about a matter of identity; it was a question of ownership. What parts of his heritage were truly his to claim? 

Inspired by serape textiles, a traditional Mexican weaving art.

Growing up in Miami, serapes were a staple of Edwing’s household. “Probably because they were cheap,” he laughs. Every time we had an ugly couch, a serape covered it,” It wasn’t until much later that he began to see this fabric as more than just a practical solution. It was a symbol. One he felt both intimately familiar with and strangely distant from.

“I always felt like, well if I use this Mexican motif it’s not really mine—it belongs to people who actually live in Mexico,” he explains. “But then I realized–-white dudes in hoodies and with dreads are out here wearing serape patterns all the time, So why can’t I?”

That reclamation—of image, of pattern, of narrative–is central to Woven for the Cosmos. Edwing doesn’t shy away from the complexities of cultural appropriation, but instead invites conversation. “I want it to feel less scary for me as a Mexican artist to hold here elements in my art,” he says. “If someone wants to challenge me on that, I’m happy to have that conversation.”

One of the most moving surprises in creating the piece came when Edwing discovered that the specific separate pattern he used likely originated from the Querétaro region—his father’s birthplace. “I never thought about it before. I always assumed the patterns were just general regional styles, but realizing that made it personal in a whole new way.” 

This piece also incorporates the word HOME, a quiet but powerful choice. “I wasn’t trying to make anything political,” he says. “I was just thinking about the comfort of the serape at home—how it was always there. But with everything happening politically—immigration, belonging, identity—the word kind of took on its own weight. If it brings someone comfort, I’m happy about that.”

As someone trained in advertising and branding, Edwing brings a strategic sharpness to his artistic practice, but not without critique.”There is always this moment in multicultural advertising where it all falls back on stereotypes. It’s like, when it comes to tacos or Día de los Muertos, that’s as far as the creativity goes,” he says. “I wanted to push past that. How do I express culture without recycling the same tropes?”

His use of displacement maps in Photoshop and After Effects to digitally distort the serape pattern mirrors his conceptual goal—to bend tradition into new shapes without losing its meaning. It’s designed as storytelling, but it’s also designed as claiming space.

For Edwing, cultural preservation and evolution aren’t opposites. “They intertwine,” he says. “Listening to hip-hop taught me that. You can hear a modern track and end up discovering blues artists from 1920. That’s preservation. It’s a cycle.”
Mentorship is another part of Edwing’s practice, and it’s taught him something vital: “There’s joy in just making things. It doesn’t matter how good you are or what label you put on yourself. Just make it. That’s enough.”

When asked what he hopes young artists of color take away from his journey, Edwing is clear: “Just make what you want. Don’t wait for permission. Because if you feel something, chances are someone else does too. Wherever you are in your identity journey, there’s someone else standing right there with you.”

Edwing Mendez, 2025 KC-based artist and creative consultant exploring identity through design and technology.

Bio:

Edwing is an independent creative consultant based in Kansas City with over ten years of experience in advertising, branding, and design. He has produced award-winning work with agencies like Barkley, Handsome Inc., and DMH. Today, Edwing continues his work with educational and mentorship-led organizations such as Big Brother Big Sisters, TFA, and several local KC schools. As a designer, he seeks to create a more equitable world by placing community at the center of the design process. As an artist, he seeks to explore how design and technology skills can be used to express ideas rooted in identity.

Socials:

Instagram: @wing_dez

Portafolio: https://edwingmendez.com/

📍 Woven for the Cosmos is currently on view at the ARTwall, located at 13th & Grand in downtown Kansas City — a vibrant public space where art meets the everyday.