Blog 4: Laura Alvarez

On Monday's class we had the honor to have the artist Laura Alvarez present to us her marvelous pieces of art and her ideas behind them.  The one art piece I immediately felt drawn towards was called At the Park, which is part of a bigger series called Double Agent Sirvienta. Alvarez explained that this series of works has been in the works for 20 years because she always keeps adding to this particular series.

In In the Park, I found it to be portraying a rather strong feminist perspective, which I found to be amazing, refreshing and liberating. I really was intrigued by the fact that Alvarez creates this strong, well-poised woman delivering this "secret message", with this look of killer confidence, all while carrying a baby on her back. This image evokes a strong sense of individualism and self-reliance for the female community, which I find to be ever-fulfilling. The fact that the mother, displayed in the image, has a jetpack says that this woman cannot be stopped in her tracks. I simply enjoy the fact that while in the background there is a child playing on the ground with their mother watching from the bench, the mother in this piece is carrying her child on her back, along with a jetpack, again all while delivering this secret message. 

Ultimately, I think that Alvarez wants to evoke this strong female voice in her art pieces. Moreover, Alvarez wants to convey to the audience that women are strong, independent, self-supporting and resilient human beings. I feel like this then ties in with Blake's message. Both Alvarez and Blake think that motherhood can still be accomplished all while accomplishing other things in life, such as being a spy as denoted in Alvarez's piece.