Take a seat: Patricio Tlacaelel Trujillo y Fuentes' five-year project 'The Chair' on display at North Fourth Art Center

Patricio Tlacaelel Trujillo y Fuentes is a collector of antiques.

It’s the stories of the items that pique the interest. It’s also the new life the item will get when it’s in his hands.

Trujillo y Fuentes was at a yard sale years ago and noticed this chair with a bunch of boxes on it.

He figured it wasn’t for sale but asked anyway.

Turns out, it was, and Trujillo y Fuentes purchased it.

Upon getting it home, he noticed there were stories to be told – this is where the journey began.

In 2015, Trujillo y Fuentes decided to start a project called, “The Chair.”

It’s been a five-year project where Trujillo y Fuentes would photograph New Mexicans in it. There are 18 photographs on display at the North Fourth Art Center through Oct. 28.

Trujillo y Fuentes is fascinated by a chair’s pragmatic and utilitarian use as a piece of furniture. He recalls going into homes where people kept an empty chair and place setting at the dinner table, for a family member who had died.

Take a seat: Patricio Tlacaelel Trujillo y Fuentes' five-year project 'The Chair' on display at North Fourth Art Center

“A chair is a place of comfort and rest, where maybe you go into someone’s home, and they offer a seat,” he says. “Or after a long day’s work, one sits and rests, a judge sits in a chair in a courtroom, the king or queen sits on the throne, one sits in a seat when driving, or on an airplane.”

Trujillo y Fuentes was inspired by Albuquerque’s local flavor. He wanted to capture people from all walks of life.

“I wanted to photograph people that represent our community,” he says. “To date, I’m around 200 people. I still want to photograph Demetria Martinez and Jessica Helen Lopez.”

From 2015 until 2020, he says the project was at its peak.

“There was a point when people were seeking me out to have a photograph taken in the chair,” he says. “That meant a lot to me, as I’ve been doing this in a very grassroots way.”

Trujillo y Fuentes has photographed New Mexico politicians, as well as some of Albuquerque’s unhoused residents.

One of the highlights of the project is when he was able to arrange for Dolores Huerta, famed farmworker’s leader, to sit.

He’d heard that Huerta was coming to Albuquerque to celebrate César Chávez and to march in a parade at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

He was put in touch with her son, Emilio Huerta.

“Contact was made, arrangements planned, and the very next day, Dolores Huerta was in the studio sitting in ‘The Chair,’ ” he says. “She had brought some props to be photographed with. I worked quickly to create a background that represented New Mexico. I also had a fiesta dress that I asked her to take a photo in. She obliged and I ended up giving her the dress.”

Trujillo y Fuentes feels this took the project to another level.

“My hope is that I’ll be able to find a venue where I can show all 200 photos,” he says. “My plan is to apply for a grant to get the photos made into a coffee table book. I know 516 Arts has the Fulcrum Fund, and I’ll be trying for some of that grant.”

Along with “The Chair” photos being on display at the North Fourth Art Center, Trujillo y Fuentes’ papel picado works are on display at the Michael Gorman Gallery and the Harwood Museum in Taos.

There will be an Artscrawl reception on Friday, Oct. 6, at North Fourth Art Center.