Laura Aguilar

This week we learned about Chicana Artist Laura Aguilar and watched a video about her regarding her artwork.  As a photographer, she captures images that include herself and nature.  These images are usually captured with her nude and her being a part of the natural surroundings.  She is a queer female Chicana that suffers from being overweight and embraces her body as such.  The idea that she is comfortable in her own skin resonated with me because this is something many people struggle with, especially women.  I believe her work is meaningful because she demonstrates that any human body can belong in nature.  Working in black and white before, she also excludes the notion of race in her images.  Watching her video, Aguilar recognizes that the work she is doing is meaningful to other people.  She serves as an example that you can be comfortable in your own skin regardless of your body type.  Images and photography as very prevalent in our current culture and I am glad that Aguilar uses this platform to create her artwork.  It creates a gateway for our current generation to use images to create art and advocate certain principles.  Being outside of the norm is okay and I was fascinated with Aguilars’ embracement of such idea.  Aguilar does not fit the social norm of body types but she has learned to embrace that and instead create beautiful images where her body is beautiful and unique.