Final Post: Reflection

In the beginning of the quarter, I just took this class because it fulfilled one of my general education classes. But now that I am at the end of the quarter, I have realized that I really enjoyed the class with the art and studying the different artists. In the beginning of the class, I didn't know any of the names of Chicana artist, and now I can name at least 10 and I am very proud of myself for that. Throughout the class, I have learned and fell in love with a lot of these artists work. One of the artists work that I really admire is Judy Baca's work. I admire her for creating these big murals all over LA and using them to bring awareness and to start a conversation about the racial inequality of Chicano/as and Mexicans in Los Angeles. The one piece that I liked was her mural on the Chaves Ravine. Before taking Chicano/a 10B, I didn't even know some of the history of my own people here in Los Angeles and now Judy Baca has taught me to use my art to bring activism for our people. Now that I have written that, it sounds really cheesy, but it is true. I also enjoyed the work of Carmen Lomas Garza because it reminds me of my childhood and reminds of me of the importance of family and how that is connected to the Mexican culture. I do believe that this class has made me grow more as a person, as a women of color, as a Chicana woman, and as an artist. Before I took this class, I have not drawn since high school and I was always afraid to draw hands and faces and this class has put me outside of my comfort zone and taught me to push myself as an artist. I really enjoyed this class.

Presentation 2: Lilliana Navarro

From last week's presentations, the presentation on Lilliana Navarro really interested me. The one that really interested me especially was Lilliana's art piece that is one the left. This art piece consists of a papel picado hanging on the top and Lilliana's self portrait on the lower left corner and on the right corner is an Aztec symbol. Then in the background there is an Aztec temple and next to it is a pair of roses. All of the components of the work of art are parts of the Mexican culture that includes the past, with the temple and the symbol, and the present, with the papel picado. From my interpretation, these are all components that make up Lilliana's identity as a Chicana woman. I also believe that the ancient Aztec symbol that looks like it is made in the style of papel picado symbolizes the past and then the papel picado hanging from the top symbolizes the the present Mexican culture. As a whole, they both represent the evolution of the Mexican culture and the people and how they changed from the Empire to the colonialism to the present. I also believe that the pair of roses represents La Virgen de Guadalupe, which is the dominant religion of the present, and then the Aztec temple in the background represents the dominant religion in the past when the Empire was flourished. All of the components of this work of art represents the past and the present things that make up her identity. Lilliana's self portrait also represents Mexico's past and present. Lilliana's makeup represents the stereotypical image of an Aztec person but the eyeshadow is bright and pink which represent the common makeup styles that are present today. I really liked it because it represents my identity as well because Mexico's past symbolizes the indigenous part of me and the present represents the things that I have grown up with like the Catholic religion.

Presentation: Kim Bjanes

In this blog post, I decided to talk about Kim Bjanes. I decided to pick her because I can really connect with her art and what they stand for. Her artwork and her print work is made for modern feminist that little Chicana girls can connect with. In the piece that is shown above, is one that one of my fellow classmates presented on. She stated that she really connected with this one as well because when she was a little girl and when she was growing up, she was called "grenuda" which means someone that has messy hair. I was also called this because I was called this when I was a little girl because I used to have crazy curly hair. But, Kim Bjanes reimagines this word, that is usually seen in a negative context and changes it to a positive one that becomes a proud identity. I like how she changes the negative images of being a woman of color and a Chicana woman and turns it an identity to be proud of. Kim's art is a way that young Chicanas can express their pride for their culture and how it connects with their identity. Another art piece that I really like from her as well is the print that says, "Brown, Badass, Bonita". I really liked it because it makes me feel powerful as a woman of color and especially as a Chicana woman. It makes me want to love the color of my skin and that I'm beautiful no matter what society might tell me about my skin.

Judith F. Baca ~ The Great Wall of Los Angeles

This mural that is shown above is a part of a larger mural that is located in Hollywood, Los Angeles and it is called The Great Wall of Los Angeles "Divisions of the Barrios & Chavez Ravine". As you can see in this mural there is a woman of color, presumably Mexican, being removed by a white police officer while she is protesting and yelling at the stadium in the back. This part of the image is supposed to represent the Mexican families that were forcedly removed from their homes in Chavez Ravine by the city of Los Angeles. They were told to move out for the construction of a new housing development, but that development failed and instead they build the Dodger's Stadium. In the back, there is the Dodger's Stadium, but in this representation, Baca illustrates it as some kind of space ship with shiny light emerging from it. Some families and in this instance, a woman, didn't leave quietly and the policed forced them to leave their homes. On the other side of this image is a family that is being separated by two circular rings that are supposed to represent the Los Angeles freeways. These families were forced to move as well to make way for the freeways and as a result some families were separated.  In this art piece, Baca shows how the Chicano/a people in Los Angeles are specifically targeted and are treated unfairly and they are being displaced because the city thinks that they can because they are people of color. Through this artwork, Baca is showing the truth about these injustices and the history of hardships that Chicano/as have experienced in California.

Carmen Lomas Garza

 This art piece called Tamalada by Carmen Lomas Garza was painted in 1988 that is in a private collection. I decided to choose this piece because it was one that I could connect to on a deeper level. In this art piece, we can see a group of people in a kitchen making tamales, which are a traditional Mexican dish made with cornmeal dough stuffed with meat and chile. While preparing this dish, there is Carmen's mother spreading the dough on the cornhusk, while Carmen, her sister, and her grandfather soaking the cornhusks in a big pot with water. We can also see Carmen's father and a little girl in the doorway with the little girl standing on her father's feet. We can see in this art piece that preparing the tamales requires many people. There is the group of people that soak the cornhusks, the people that spread the dough on the cornhusks, the people that put the meat and chile and wrap the tamales, and then the people that organize them in a pan ready to be cooked. This work of art has a very playful tone to it and represents a custom and gathering that Mexican culture brings. I illustrates family coming together and making food for the holidays or gathering, and family is one of the most important values in the Mexican culture. I can connect to this because, every Christmas or Thanksgiving, my family and I would sit around the table and make tamales. It was usually my mom, younger sister, and my oldest brother because they wouldn't let me help because they say I put too much masa and little carne. But it usually be the way that Carmen Lomas Garza portrayed it in this work of art. And when I see this, it just reminds me of the times I spent with my family.

Yolanda Lopez: Nuestra Madre Piece

One piece from Yolanda Lopez that I want to focus on is called Nuestra Madre that was painted from 1981-88 that is a part of the Guadalupe series. This art piece is another rendition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, but instead of Guadalupe it is an Pre-Columbian Aztec goddess named Tonantzin. In Nuestra Madre, Tonantzin is portrayed as a statue with her hands facing up, topless, and wearing a skirt with snakes wrapping around it. Yolanda Lopez decided to portray Tonantzin like the Virgen to illustrate the history of Mexico before the influence of Catholicism. This piece is a symbol that declares mestizaje and the declaration of the existence of the indigenous people. Instead of the usual negative representations of women, Yolanda Lopez recreates women as powerful figures, without the association and relationship to men, fertile women that are seen as beautiful creatures in whatever body shape they have. Yolanda Lopez recreates a new Chicana womanhood through this piece and creates it so that every women of color could relate to it. This piece really spoke to me because someone how it connects me to another part of my identity as a Chicana and connects me with the history of the land that I come from. This piece of art makes me see myself as a woman of color differently and makes me happy that it's not all about the negative stereotypes. 

CARA Exhibit: Gaspar de Alba

In the third chapter named "Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore's Mask: The Mirror of Machismo" Alicia Gaspar de Alba begins with describing the layout of the exhibit and notices that there is a bigger proportion of work from Chicano male artists than there is of Chicana females. Then throughout the chapter, Gaspar de Alba explains that this difference demonstrates the "sexual politics of the Chicano Art Movement, which can be played by the CARA exhibit" (Gaspar de Alba, 122). One of the things that I found interesting is at the end of the chapter where Gaspar de Alba explain the Frida Kahlo painting. What I found interesting is that the CARA exhibit would put up an piece of artwork of Frida Kahlo by a male Chicano artist and how Gaspar explains it to be, " the interpretation of a Chicano/Latino gay man who fetishizes Frida Kahlo the same way the some whit gay men fetishizes Marylin Monroe" (157). Then Gaspar de Alba explains that this would be different than how a Chicana lesbian women would relate to Frida Kahlo and the same experiences that they both went through in their lives being women of color. What I took from this is how males can't really relate to what women are truly feeling and how they can't relate to the struggles that Chicana and more broadly, women of color, face in society. I believe that they can empathize with the type of struggles women of color are facing but they will never truly understand. Concluding, I really enjoyed reading this chapter from Gaspar de Alba and how this chapter illustrates the machismo within the Chicano/a community of art.

"Chicana Sexuality and Gender" by Debra Blake

One of the quotes that I would like to talk about is one that Blake states in chapter 3 that says, "Because of Guadalupe's ambivalent and multiple significations, she provides a window of opportunity for the women to reformulate their conditions of existence" (Blake, 114). This is an important quote because in this chapter Blake discusses about the reimagine of La Virgen de Guadalupe and with this reformation, it is used as another method of resistance. By portraying La Virgen more as a woman and less as a God, as Blake states, Chicana women will be able to connect more with her and this will be able to break down the gender roles that women should be pure and figures without sexuality. Then these women will be able to speak out about their struggles that they face as women of color and be able to find their sexualities and identities because of the help of other Chicano artists that have revisioned La Virgen. These forms of resistance will then help dismantle the gender and racial stereotypes that are enforced within Chicana women.

Presentation: Felicia 'Fe' Montes

I do not really know much about art and artist, but the one artist that I found incredibly fascinating was names Felicia Morales. She is a Xicana Indigenous artist, activist, performer, speaker and a practitioner of the healing art from East LA. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A in the World Arts and Cultures with a minor in Chicano/a Studies. Then a M.A in Chicano/a Studies from Cal State Northridge and a M.F.A from Otis College of Arts & Design in Public Practice Art. Felicia creates her work based on social and spiritual change as she works first hand in activism and organizing. Right now she is currently serves as the founding executive director of Mujeres de Maiz. On her website that I have encountered, she does photography, poems, digital imagery, and performance art like Huichola. I decided to choose this artist because ever since I had taken Chicano/a 10B last quarter, I have been interested in activism and speaking out for Chicanas and others like me. I have been interested in trying to make a change in my societies and speak out about the injustices that people like me face in this society. I also chose her because she is kind of like me; a Chicana trying to make a change in this world. 

Perez, Cynthia

My name is Cynthia Perez and my preferred pronoun is she, hers, and hers. I am a second year Anthropology B.S. major and a Chicano Studies Minor. I was born in Santa Ana, California but then later moved to Fontana and have lived there ever since. I have two loving parents, two older brothers, and a younger sister. I come from a really close Mexican family that values family extremely, so sometimes it gets really hard being away from them. I came to UCLA to study Anthropology because later in life I want to become a forensic anthropologist. These type of scientist identify human remains from just their skeletons.

One of the readings that I would like to discuss is “It’s not about the Santa in My Fe, but the Santa Fe in My Santa” Alma Lopez. In the beginning of the article the author talks about how so many images of La Virgen de Guadalupe were present in her life when she was growing up in LA. Then she moves on to how La Virgen got her image. She discusses about an indigenous man named Juan Diego created the image of La Virgen and demonstrated it to a Bishop. Lopez then states how she wanted to portray her as a Chicana women instead of a God. I find this piece of literature very interesting because artists are changing the way women are seen and break through the gender stereotypes of women and they due this through one of the most powerful female icons in Catholic history. It is also important to me because La Virgen de Guadalupe is a part of my life and my religion and being able to see her as a Chicana women instead of a God, I am able to relate her more.