Elizondo, Marissa (Marissa)

Hi, my name is Marissa Elizondo. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I transferred from Pasadena City College and this is my second (and final) year at UCLA. I'm an art major. The primary mediums I work in are sculpture and ceramics but I also enjoy drawing, painting, and video. As a Chicana, native Angeleno, and former Catholic school girl from a predominantly Latinx neighborhood, I’m interested in creating art that is informed by my cultural identity and personal experiences. I like experimenting with different and unconventional materials to make work that is usually colorful, tactile, and sometimes campy but ultimately seeks to challenge the traditional/institutional notion of “fine” art. I'm really looking forward to learning more about how other Chicana artists are exploring their cultural identities within their artistic practices.

In the essay titled “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” I especially enjoyed Nochlin’s discussion of the mythological associations surrounding the idea of “genius.” I had never really considered the implications or consequences of perpetuating the fairytale-like origin stories of “genius” artists who are just seemingly born with a greatness so great it is virtually never challenged by art historians.