Week 7 Presentation Artist: Bjanes, Kim

One of the artist that caught my attention was Bjanes, Kim. When looking at her social media, and the actual presentation in class, I came across her empowering works. I say this because her artwork is a representation of empowering women. Often, different cultural and societal expectations degrade and bring down women and her art does the opposite. It allows women to find these items in which they can identify with and furthermore, be proud of who they are and what they represent. Additionally, it empowers women to understand their worth and strength. The presentation had three images, that all spoke to me. The first was the Brown, Badass, Bonita tee which I found a quote on her social media about that I have attached. This first piece is empowering, as it suggest women are rising, embracing, owning, and decolonizing. All powerful words that give agency and strength to many women who may often feel like they do not. Second, was the grenuda tee. This was also significant, as the spanish word means messy hair. Growing up I heard that term a lot as a form for my mother to nag me for how I looked. I thought this representation in my experience, of my language and culture is important to put on a shirt. We so often see people we don't relate to on clothing and this term I thought was unique, and important. Lastly, the third image was that of the artists, Bjanes in the popular undocu tee in which she shows support. I think for me this piece was important in showing the artist solidarity and support to the undocumented community. I say this because from my experience, while my older brother was undocumented during most of his undergraduate career we often were unsure of what the future held. When seeing this tee, it brought in my opinion awareness to a community and also support. Bjanes, Kim is a supporter of the Clean Dream Act and I believe she has work that have a positive impact  in our communities, of course depending on perspective and experience.