Rodriguez, Sasha (Week 6 Xandra Ibarra)

 

    Xandra Ibarra catches attention from the very first impression. Her first image is mesmerizing in a way that you can’t stop looking at it and drawn in. Almost constrained looking just as the model is in the image. Then clicking on the menu you can tell Xandra is a unique artist because of the website design and from her biography, you can tell her work is very important to her and that it seems she uses her work to be an activist for a number of causes such as being a feminist and sexuality. 

    Ibarra’s work has definitely covered very serious topics in numerous ways from sculptures, performances, and photos there is one series that seems to have captured all those features in one. That would be Inventory of Exhaustion Seriers (2016) which is shown on her website. It was displayed as an exhibition in 2016 but now we can only see images, photos of past costumes that Ibarra used sealed up in a vacuum-sealed bag only showing a glimpse of her past performances. There are five costumes that were once used and are now just a shell of the former La Chica Boom. 

    Never is she denouncing them or placing them in a bad light or acting as though she is trying to move on from the past but rather the opposite. These outfits are stored with care and when you vacuum seal something in my household that just means you are saving it for later such as putting away winter clothing but vacuum seal them to save space. It seems like she is saying she is proud of her past work and that although she has moved past them and is working on something new she will always treasure the space that these performances gave to not only herself but to others. To me, it shows it is okay to grow into a new skin and to remember the past and work you have done but don’t let it clutter your now. Of course, I could be overthinking and misinterpreting the piece but that’s what I see when looking at these images. The one question I would ask is why does La Chica Boom align herself with a cucaracha when they typically hold a negative meaning? Of all the resilient animals she could have chosen to represent herself she picked one of the most disliked things on the planet and I wonder why.