Laura Alvarez

It was a real privilege having the multitalented multimedia artist Laura Alvarez in class. Hearing about how her family and environment influenced her art and brought about the Double Agent Sirvienta (DAS) was amazing. This piece by Laura, which is part of the DAS series is the one that stood out to me the most. It demonstrates the multiple roles that women can take and also changes the way we view the "maid." Laura said in class, "technology is power" and here we see the double agent sirvienta using technology in two ways: the tiara looking thing on her head which is being used for communication and the robot bird which could be used as a drone or explosive, either way it holds great power. I feel that the use of a communication technology in this piece reflects being heard or making the unnoticed noticeable. The expression on the double agent sirvienta is powerful and confident and is a contrast to the invisibility with which maids are often seen. Overall i feel this piece is about empowering women, making them noticed, and showing that they should not be taken at face value because they can be so much more than what you see. I feel like this message lines up pretty well with Yolanda's feminist works in that they are about empowerment and the multiple roles that women can take. I especially see the similarity to Yolanda's Eclipse where you see the image of the nursing mother and it splits off into the runner and the essence of the nursing mother, where there are multiple roles and symbols of power.