Week 5: Laura Aguilar / Carlee Fernandez

   Laura Aguilar is my favorite artist right now (and I'm not just saying that because I presented her). When I initially saw her photos I was stricken by the sight of her large body in nature--not because I found it unappealing, but because I saw so much beauty in the forms that her body created. Her search for the credibility of identity has got me thinking about my own art practice and how I want to utilize my abilities and aesthetic sense to affect change or provoke thought.

   Carlee Fernandez also had me thinking about my own art practice. For much of my time spent studying and creating art, I've always sort-of shied away from being labeled as a gay or Chicano artist, but not because I was ever ashamed of those labels. Rather, I felt there was a responsibility of using those labels... like I was too naive to be able to claim them, so instead I created art that was/is devoid of the identity of any one kind of person.


   My favorite piece is Center #73 by Laura Aguilar. The way her body becomes a boulder smoothed by the flowing water is so exhilarating. It's as if she relates herself more to nature and the beauty of rocks than she does with other humans. Also, there is a lifelessness about the form her body creates--like she creates a still life although she is still alive. In her desert images, the narrative that I create in my head is that as she was walking her body found the perfect place to rest and all of her energy leaves her enabling her body to remain there until it returns to the earth. It's so beautiful.