Andres Valles' Approach to Shizu Saldamando's Work

 

The Holy Cuatro, 2004.

       The subjects of Shizu Saldamando’s work are everyday individuals with a powerful message to tell. Her tools are few, as she opts for a ballpoint pen, pencil, and other available materials that have a surface to draw on. So let’s face it, any artist who is making pen drawing on a napkins (as seen above), must really be saying something, and I want to get in their head.

       In painting her subjects, Saldamando believes she is “[...]honoring people and moments that resist categorization and question the existing archetypal and hierarchical norms.” When I found this quote I was reminded of Alicia Billalobos', the presenter, comment that paralleled between Saldamando and artists in prison, who work with limited materials. Because what happens when those who resisted hegemonic institutions end up in prison? 

Backyard Hardcore, 2012, color pencil on paper, 22 in. x 30 in.

       I do not see Saldamando’s work as a window into everyday individual’s lives. It is the culmination of this style of art itself, as it embodies the makeshift techniques of prison artists. In a sense, Saldamando’s work, is a portrait of those individuals in prison, and in referencing their artistic style, she reengages them within a social context . Therefore, I was animated about finding a classmate who also shared my interest in the work of Saldamando. 

       Andress Valles found that he connects to an artist and their work by recreating their work, and applying similar techniques.  I think that Valles is onto something. Perhaps it is an untapped tool for better understanding art that moves away from the artist’s sole intent. Art is what the viewers decides it should be. For Valles this meant dealing with formal qualities and the tactility of the process of making art. I think I’ll try this for one of the projects in my sketchbook. 

   
Source for Saldamando’s statment: http://my.calfund.org/artist-gallery/gallery/year-2013/shizu-saldamando/