Week 7 Presentations: Yreina Cervantez

I enjoyed learning about all the Chicana artist that my classmates presented this week. One of the ones which stood out to me the most was Yreina Cervantez due to her background and the meaning of her art. As my classmate shared, she was born in Kansas and grew up culturally segregated until she moved to California. It was the lack of exposure and culture shock that influenced her decision to explore Chicana identity and join the movement.
Her art is influenced by pre-Columbian history, politics and Los Angeles. She is known for creating artistic vocabulary where the images speak for themselves. Not surprisingly, not everyone agrees with her perspective, and it was interesting to hear that a Catholic priest paid a graffiti artist to damage one of her murals. The mural is La Ofrenda, in terms of the Catholic church is considered an offering to God, therefore, was offensive to the priest who later apologized and even helped restore the mural. Cervantez’s offering is different from the offerings of the church; nonetheless, it has as much importance as it depicts an image of Dolores Huerta and other female leaders who play an essential role in our culture. I also loved her self-portrait and learning about the meaning that each symbol holds, including the representation of the jaguar as a female body. I was amazed that this picture was made by watercolors as it shows that the artist has mastered this technique. Yireina has been categorized as a unique Chicana artist, unlike any other of her generation. I would love to continue to explore her work and the symbolism that each holds, I am glad that I got to learn about Yreina’s background and her beautiful artwork.