Flores, Miguel Angel

Hello everyone, my name is Miguel Angel Flores, I'm a fourth year art major here at UCLA. I grew up in a touristic town up north called Mammoth Lakes under the love and care of my undocumented parents, who grew up in Apatzingan, Michoacan. Both my parents were very traditional in their way of living and raising their children, but not overly invested in religion. Instead of practicing any form of strict prayer routines and such, they simply saw gods and goddesses as miraculous images and entities capable of helping those in need. We rarely went to church unless it was the 12th or someone was dying or getting married, instead  I grew up listening to various stories about different saints and people who became saints through their benevolence and good character, that was my religion, The most important saint for us was always La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year around November, my mother sets up an altar for her and decorates it with roses, candles, and other saint figurines as well as old photographs of our family;s deceased loved ones. She is always with us, hanging around our neck, or on the blankets we use to stay warm. Upon coming to college and learning more about chican@ culture and clarifying muddy histories, my art has taken a more critical path which seeks to take in and reflect back the behaviors and attitudes of present social, cultural and personal interactions with larger systems and the effects they have on one's identity. As a kid, I would've never thought or doubted our Morenita, but as I learn more and more, the easier it is to come to my own conclusions about history and the way I like to think of it. I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge on Chicana artists but even more excited to draw inspiration from their techniques and artistic processes in order to make my own work stronger in the future.