Laura Alvarez - Bus Stop Painting

I had the honor to be in the presence of multi-media visual and recording artist, Laura Alvarez, earlier this week. I truly enjoyed her presentation about her work and the development of her career as a Chicana artist. Learning that she is very inspired by her parents' and family history, and implements that inspiration in her work, is very refreshing. It encourages me to keep on venerating my roots and my familial history.

Alvarez's ongoing work with her series, Double Agent Sirvienta, or D.A.S., demonstrates how much she truly loves who she is, and does not apologize for it. I enjoy how Alvarez is able to take the stereotyped role of "the maid" in the Chicana/Latina culture and exonerate it from its derogatory view. Subtly and creatively she hints at the fact, and shows the masses, to not "judge the book (in this case the maid) by its cover". This idea may be cliché; however, it would not be if people would simply treat maids (sirvientas) as righteous individuals performing honest work, for the purpose to support and care for them and their loved ones. 

She further gives the D.A.S. an original and unique touch, by having it relate to her own experiences as a child with her mother. Her mother's occupation as a maid is where the D.A.S. series stems, (in collaboration with her father's experiences as a participant in the United States' armed forces) and in each work exemplifies the notion that her mother is not simply a maid, but a powerhouse who sees, hears, and knows many things other than cleaning. Not only does this prove her family is of great influence in her work, but also coincides with Debra Blake's concept of refiguring La Virgen de Guadalupe into different Chicana feminist symbols. Maids are not cleaning, subservient bodies, and La Virgen de Guadalupe does not only serve as a religious figure, not open for other people's interpretation of her influence in their life. Alvarez, through her creativeness and standing as a Chicana artist, challenges the maid stereotype and attempts to open minds to the fact that maids are human beings with their own strengths and prowess. 

With that, I chose to focus on Alvarez's painting titled Bus Stop. In it I not only see Double Agent Sirvienta, but I see the artist's childhood experience accompanying her mother on the job. Alvarez graciously shared with the class that she dressed in fancy attire when she went to clean homes as a little girl. Perhaps without even knowing it, the artist refused to be invisible, and refused to dress according to what the homeowners believed a maid should look like. She was performing valuable work, so why not exert that same manner in her clothing? The artists applies her perspective in Bus Stop with the two pairs of shoes. In my opinion, that represents duality and the idiom "to put yourself in their shoes". One only sees a maid as a worker, but does one know who they are and how they feel? One sees how women act, but really does one know if they like it or not? One sees La Virgen de Guadalupe as a religious symbol, but is she really that kind of icon? Aside from my experience as a Chicana (and a bus commuter), this painting speaks loudly to me in that a person is not trapped to be a certain expectation of what others want them to be. They are their own person, who know their capabilities, and there are a lot of options of who they want to be. An individual chooses what is best for them, as the woman in the painting is looking and possibly thinking if that pair of shoes, or the one she has on, are best for her.