Week 10 Reflection

This class has been one of my favorite classes I have taken during my time at UCLA. I took this class on a whim off of the recommendation of a friend. I never had any intention of taking any chicano studies related classes as I felt as though I just wouldn't relate to it, being that I am not of a hispanic background. Be that as it may, this class really resonated with me. I feel like I learned about the struggles of a people group so that now I have a fuller understanding of what other people go through. This is one of the things that really has been a repetitive chord in my time here at UCLA, and I love that I have a richer understanding of different cultures and peoples that I wouldn't have had previously. As a woman, I loved this class because the art is so empowering, whether you are a chicana or not, it is so amazing to see what these creative women are doing with their talent to effect change in society. Not only that, but its just really cool to see all the ways in which these women are doing this. No one fits into a "mold," they are all creating art that expresses themselves and creates a larger conversation, but the work is all so varied and different. Even as a resident of Los Angeles, I feel as though I can go about my life in this city and just be more educated about some of the street art that is all around us thanks to this class. Not only that, but the drawing aspect in this class has reminded me how much I love art and creating art, which is something I lost as my life got so crazy as an adult. I am glad I've reconnected with that and I'm really going to be intentional about keeping up with it and sketching or painting more often than I have been.

Harmonia Rosales

In last week's presentations, we learned about Chicana artist Harmonia Rosales, who regularly takes on issues of racism in her paintings. The first thing that really struck me from all of her work, but mostly from "God is a Black Woman," is how beautiful her style of painting is. Harmonia really is incredibly talented at depicting very real-life figures. It might be weird to say, but I love the way she depicts light on her subjects' skin and and their clothing. It truly is a beautiful rendition of Michaelangelo's famous painting but it opens up such a larger discussion about race and being inclusive. The response to this piece was of course controversial to many who saw this as blasphemous, but many people loved this, saying that they loved seeing the faces of people they knew and loved in this iconic setting. The backlash against this I think is ridiculous but doesn't surprise me from today's society. Ultimately, Rosales is definitely sparking a lot of conversations that need to be had in our society if we are to truly become a less racist and non-inclusive nation.

Camille Rose Garcia Presentation

Of all the presentations last Thursday, Camille Rose Garcia really caught my attention because her work is so original and imaginative. A lot of Garcia's work is very psychadelic, and has elements of fairy tale characters. When asked about the nature of her work, Garcia says, "There’s always the battle, I feel, as a female. You’re always going to be fighting. And you’re always going to be fighting something really big." Garcia, like many other American children, has absorbed a lot of Disney characters, so she chooses to reinterpret those characters in her art work, and she does this in order to get to her viewer's subconscious and tap into the things they already find familiar in order to bring home her message.

In her work,  "The Garden of the Tooth Witch," she uses the imagery of a tooth to depict death. This is a reaccuring theme in her work, as to her, teeth are a reminder that we are just living in physical bodies that are continually decaying and breaking down.
I really liked this painting because it definitely played into the memories of Disney and fairy tales from when I was younger, much like Garcia aims to do in her work. I love this piece because it shows that there is always a dark underbelly to what society seems to make "perfect," because nothing is truly perfect in this world. There is always a dark side to anything, even perhaps fairy tales, and even though society doesn't want to talk about it, that darkness and imperfection is there just below the surface, and I think this painting shows that dark side of things in a really beautiful and eerie way.

Judith F. Baca, Killed by a Placa

"Killed by a Placa" is a work done by Chicana artist Judith F. Baca and was completed in 1974. The technique she used was wood stain on paper. The image is of a Jerry Fernandez, a young man who Baca knew because he used to help her paint murals. Jerry was only 17 years old when he was senselessly killed by inner city gang members while he was sitting in his car. Baca was incredibly impacted by this event, and stated, "...it was so overwhelming to see teenagers die, to go through this with a family and the full impact, to see the complete uselessnes of loss, like this death [repeatedly]." Baca wanted her work to not only express her sadness about this event, but also to make a statement about the way that inner city life takes a toll on those who live there, and how much violence is a prevalent and ongoing issue there. The body of this young boy is painted clutching a torso wound, twisted in pain and slumped on the side of a side walk. Near the boy's face is his age, 17 years, painted in the style of street numbers on the sidewalk. Over the boy's face, Baca placed a placa, otherwise known as barrio tagging caligraphy/grafitti to denote the name of the gang that he and his brothers belonged to. This piece is ultimately a critique of the violent machismo behavior that is associated with street gangs and the senseless violence that ensues due to these gangs trying to maintain their "territory." The placa is the way in which these gang members mark their territory in public spaces. This work speaks to the danger and violence associated with this pursuit of "place making" and the societal systems that keep these youths disenfranchised and lead them to live this life in the first place.

 

Carmen Lomas Garza: Curandera

Carmen Lomas Garza is perhaps one of the most successful and well-known Chicana artists. She was born and raised in south Texas to a family that was always very supportive of her artistic abilities and inclinations. Additionally, her family was involved in local activism and these early experiences had a profound impact on Garza. From an early age, she learned the importance of a community working together to take action against social injustice. Her paintings depict the everyday experiences of her family and community and allow the viewer to take in those images and relate them to their own lives and experiences. 

    One such painting that depicts one of her childhood memories is Curandera. This is a goache painting on cotton paper that she completed in 1977. The subject of this painting is her sister, Mary Jane, and a curandera that her mother had called to help cure her sister’s adolescent problems. Garza’s use of a more uniform pigmentation in this piece lets the viewer take in the image as a whole and allows them to notice varying elements around the room, such as the Bible on the table or the portrait of a saint on the wall, which are elements of Catholicism. To some, the presence of a folk healer and Christian symbolism would seem to be at odds with each other, but that is not the case in Garza’s case as she often witnessed these healers calling upon the saints to help them fulfill their cures. Author Constance Cortez writes, “From the scene, viewers understand that cures were approached in a holistic manner, one that relied on the presence of family and familiar settings and on different types of spirituality.” Thus, this work shows that there is a broader cultural context in which the curandera’s rituals are being performed. I loved this piece because of the vibrant colors but also because the subject matter is just so everyday, which is somewhat unusual to see in traditional art. It is as though you as the viewer are a fly on the wall in the Garza home and you are just observing their everyday life. With these paintings and her other works, its almost like my imagination starts to take over and I start imaging the conversations these people are having or what they might go and do after this scene is over.

Yolanda Lopez, “Things I Never Told My Son about Being a Mexican”

Not only does Yolanda Lopez create paintings and drawings, she is also a renowned installation artist. One such installation entitled “Things I Never Told My Son about Being a Mexican,” is a testament to the many ways in which Mexican culture is appropriated and degraded. This installation was part of a larger installation entitled “When You Think of Mexico,” which circulated from the late 80’s through the late 90’s. In “Things I Never Told My Son,” Lopez displays all the many mundane objects that depict Mexican culture and Mexicans in a stereotypical or racist manner. These objects range from food wrappers, to toys, to advertisements. According to Dalavos, this work was the way in which Lopez “turns away from the master narrative or Western subject,” and “aligns her work with...artists who work to destroy racist representations by taking up the very material and popular culture of racism.” This installation is a means by which Lopez shows that racism and discrimination is inherent even in the most trivial of items. This installation really was interesting to me because of the fact that there are so many things in our culture that appropriate, stereotype, and marginalize minority cultures, and the Latino culture is one of those cultures. The objects that Lopez collected and displayed in this installation are so everyday and commonplace, they've objects everyone has probably seen a million times but many people probably don't even think about the fact that perhaps the logo on their buritto wrapper is in fact stereotyping Mexicans in a negative way. Her aim was to give people a sense that this is something that is occuring and to especially let Latinos know that they too can "turn away from the master narrative or Western subject."

CARA Exhibit and Alicia Gaspar de Alba

This week, through our reading and from the guest lecture by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, we learned about the CARA exhibition and both its significance and its troubles. This exhibition was the first of its kind as it was a traveling exhibition that showecased the works of over 100 Chicano/a artists and was the first exhibition of its kind to get press from the mainstream media. The purpose of this exhibit was to be as inclusive as possible and show the works from Chicano/a artists of all walks of life. This exhibition, although its aim was to promote inclusivity and give a voice to all chicanos/as, it was actually extremely unequal and biased in its presentation. Alicia Gaspar de Alba talks about this in her chapter and also in the guest lecture she gave to class. Chicana artists were severely underrepresented in this exhibit, with a hundred more Chicano artists being shown than Chicana artists. Not only were women completely underrepresented in this exhibit, but the manner in which the women that were shown were displayed also further feeds into the patriarchal ideas of the Chicano movement. The room in which the Chicana artists were displayed was sandwiched between two other exhibits, essentially continuing the narrative that the women are tied to the past and future of the movement because of their biological purposes in society. It seems that even in movements in which there is a lot of discourse about letting everyone have a voice and overturning oppression and discrimination that there needs to be a little of that applied introspectively to ensure that this political movement is inclusive and serves the whole community, not just the dominant group.

    I was very intrigued by Alicia Gaspar de Alba’s talk, she brought up a lot interesting questions that I think a lot of people do not really consider. One thing I thought was interesting was when she was asking the class if we consider ourselves to be “feminist” or people who are “queer advocates.” One of the guys in the class, I’m not sure of his name, but he mentioned that he does consider himself a feminist but doesn’t feel comfortable saying that because he said that he didn’t believe that it was a space that was created for him. I think this is really interesting to hear a guy admit this and I think a lot of men probably feel the same way. While yes, I think as a movement maybe it seems like it does belong to women, I think we need men to be advocates of the feminist movement because if we don’t have men as advocates, women will be running into the same struggles for equality again and again.

Chapter 1 of Chicana Sexuality and Gender

In the first chapter, Blake writes, “Chicana and U.S. Mexicana cultural refiguring participates in transcoding by confronting the elisions and denigrations of women in history through a dual remembering process of reclaiming female-oriented symbols and preserving cultural memories.” Chicanas and U.S. Mexicanas have been striving through art, literature, and oral history, to take back their cultural identity and heritage and to create a vibrant and more positive meaning for themselves through figures of legend or indigenous earth goddesses.

 Essentially, they take these figures and reimagine them as strong female characters with agency. They do this by leaving out aspects of these figures that are considered negative and that do not align with the Mexicana’s core value of self-determination and pride. Through the years, history and culture has been shaped by those in power, not only colonial powers but also through patriarchal society, so that female voices and perspectives have all but been left out. These stories fail to represent U.S. Mexicanas and Chicana's real lived experiences, so they are reclaiming these female figures for themselves by keeping aspects of the past in order to maintain cultural ties, but interpreting these characters in new ways that express their lived experiences and goals. In this way, Mexicanas can maintain their cultural ties to the past while also creating a new narrative that helps illustrate their values of female equality and autonomy within their culture. Through these new visions of historical and cultural female figures, Chicana woman are disrupting the narrative of history to create narratives that are more inclusive and reveal the struggles of women, gays, lesbians, and people of color.

Judithe Hernandez

For my project and presentation, I am going to be featuring Judithe Hernandez, who is considered one of the founding members of the Chicano/LA Mural movements. There is something very haunting but also ethereal about her works, and I love the way that she uses color to punctuate certain aspects of her works. From the works that I discovered while poking around the internet, I am facinated by her subjects and really want to learn more about the symbolism and meaning behind her pieces.

Judithe is from here in LA, but has also lived in Chicago, IL. Her education was here in LA at the Otis Art Institute, where she received a BFA and an MFA. She first became recognized in the 1970's for her work as a muralist in Los Angeles, and was the 5th member (and only female) to join the famous Los Four. As well as being an acclaimed artist, she is also known for helping organize Chicano artists across the state of California.

Judithe Hernandez' work is exhibited throughout all of California, as well as in Chicago and New York City. In addition, because she is a muralist, you can also find her murals throughout Los Angeles. She was also recently chosen to be only one of 72 artists of Latino decent to present work in the Smithsonian's permanent collection as part of their "Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art" exhibition, which opened in October 2013.

Although she did not start her career as a political activist, when the Chicano/Chicana movement started to take off in the 1960's, Hernandez was moved to start using her art to discuss issues that were important to her community. Her art tackles themes such as racism, discrimination, and exclusion. Hernandez presents these issues in a way that is visually impactful but also seems to have a way that presents these issues in a more universal way so that other groups can relate to her work as well. I am truly looking forward to diving into her beautiful work and unpacking all the messages she has woven throughout her art.

Moore, Jessica

Hi everyone, my name is Jessica Moore and I am a 4th year Communications Major. My preferred pronouns are she/her. I transferred to UCLA from Los Angeles Valley College in the fall of 2016, but my college education actually began back in 2006. I studied Theater at Middle Tennessee State University for two semesters before deciding to leave school and make the move to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Five years ago, I decided I wanted to finish my education and here I am!
Beyond attending school I am also a blogger myself, but I focus on fashion and lifestyle. I consider fashion a form of self expression and a way to tell your own story through what you wear. Participating in a collaborative blog is something new for me, but I am excited to try it this quarter. I am excited to take this class because I love art and wanted to explore an area of art that I probably wouldn't get the chance to learn about otherwise. I wouldn't say that women have been ignored in the arts per say, but they definitely aren't celebrated in the mainstream as much as men, especially when you are speaking about women in a minority group, such as latinas. I am also really excited for the artistic portion of this class because I used to love to draw and sketch, but lost it a little bit in the last couple years in the midst of how busy life can get.
The reading for this week was very interesting to me, and while many aspects of the information was eye-opening, other aspects did not come as much of a surprise. Up until doing this reading and then also seeing the exercise that Professor Lopez illustrated in the beginning of class, I never really gave much thought to the fact that most of the "great" artists you know and remember or are widely recognized in society are men, typically white and middle class. Even though these white male artists usually get all the glory, I see no shortage of females who are producing art, but they aren't as successful.
Part of this discrepancy used to be due to the limitations placed on females based on the education they were able to recieve as far as artistic instruction went, such as not being able to participate in studying the nude form, which is a quintessential part of art and much of the reason why people like Michaelangelo and Da Vinci are so lauded because of their ability to create a lifelike form. Today I think this manifests itself in a different way. One way I've observed even in my own circle has to do with films. Some of my male friends are much less inclined to go see a film if the lead character is a female. They will make some sort of comment but I think what it comes down to is a lot of men just don't want to invest in a female-driven story. I think the same can be true also for female musicians; men are more inclined to gravitate to male driven bands rather than female. This sort of attitude, coupled with the systematic disadvantages women face, is a huge factor in why female artists are not as widespread or well-known as male artists.