George Navarro, Misty Week 8

The presentations this past week were all great and each presenter chose amazing artists to write and teach the class about. Listening to how much our peers know about these artists is exciting and makes it that much more interesting to hear. The artist that stood out to me the most was Ruby Chacon whose work was presented by Lilibeth. Chacon’s work was interesting to me primarily because of her inspiration. According to the presentation, Chacon uses her art to express her dual identity as a Utah native and Chicana which she considered to be antithetical identities. Though she was taught to conceal her Mexican identity growing up, she later learned to fuse them into an identity she calls Utahna. After the passing of her nephew, Chacon became more interested in painting her family as a way to reclaim her family’s reputation and she also wanted to resist typical Utah art which typically involved lots of landscapes and desertscapes. Though she is a painter, Chacon is not limited to any specific medium and much of her work which consists of murals and canvas paintings can be found across Utah. 
The piece that Lilibeth presented that stood out to me the most was the mural in which Chacon depicts farm workers, references of La Virgen de Guadalupe in a normal woman, abuelitas, a saxophone player among many other things. This mural also includes a typical Utah landscape. This piece was interesting to me because of the combination of Utah culture and Chicanx culture that Chacon strives to demonstrate. This piece also reminds me of artwork that people can find all of South and East Los Angeles. These murals are important because they are a way of reminding those who see them of the presence and belonging of Mexican and Chicanx people in these different cities.