Blog Week 7- Judy Baca's "Tres Generaciones"

Judy Baca "Tres Generaciones" 6" x 8" Oil on Canvas

A brief overview of Judy Baca's story told through one of my classmate's presentation this week inspired me to choose this image by the Chicana artist. This 6" x 8" Oil on Canvas painting titled Tres Generaciones done in 1973 truly resonated with me as I hold dear to my heart my parents and grandparents. I cherish my mother, her presence and unconditional support and love guiding me in the decisions I make in my life. And although I do not have the luxury to always be with my grandmother, phone calls and online communication are the ways in which we keep up to date and connect with each other.

I especially love how Baca represents each generation with a color, eventually mixing them to form herself, suggesting to her viewers that she is composed of her mother and grandmother. The colors themselves may represent the age of her family members. Her grandma is painted in a brown hue indicating that she is mature. Her mother is painted in a red hue demonstrating that she is at the peak of her livelihood, in her middle age. Baca paints herself in a blue-ish tone, possibly suggesting her calm, stable life as a child not having the concerns of an adult. Eventually the artist mixes all the colors to show her present state at the time, to show that her life experiences, as well as that of her mother and grandmother, and how the latter's experiences molded her into the person she is.

This work by the Chicana artist shows the familial ties that inspired her work in this painting. Moreover, Baca's familial ties coincide with those of other Chicana artists such as Carmen Lomas Garza and Yolanda M. López. Baca, Garza and López felt an inclination to paint themselves (Garza's 1969 Lithograph on Rives paper work Self-Portrait and López' 1975-76 Charcoal on paper Tres Mujeres/Three Generations series Self-Portrait). In my opinion, they do that to reflect on who they are, where they stand at the point when they drew/painted themselves, and also to what/who they attribute their status. In addition, all three artists acknowledge the power the women in their families. They venerate them and demonstrate the fact that even though those individuals (in this case their moms and grandmas) may seem like ordinary people, to them they are very valuable. Alongside Garza and López, Baca takes pride in who she is, where she comes from, and loves her family who find their way in influencing the artist's work.