Reflections

 Looking back at the beginning of the quarter I just feel really grateful for having taken this class and I am able to reflect on a lot of the growth that I have had throughout the time. As a queer, Mexican, first gen, woman I think that this class really inspired me to be proud of who I am and how resilient my people are. I feel that as an artist I have also been inspired to take more time to create things and express the way that I am feeling. I especially felt empowered listening to Xandra Ibarra present to the class. I loved listening to how her work is creative and her whole creative process that leads to the finished artistic creations that she has. I feel like it is so important to be introduced and be made aware of this kind of representation in the artistic world. Growing up I felt that my love for art was just a hobby and as a result I felt that I needed to repress it not focus my energy much on it. Also as first gen I felt a sense of obligation to carry the family and provide for them. I think that seeing so many of the artists that have the same background and pressures as me excel in what they love to do is beautiful. I absolutely love seeing brown art. Even more, I love to learn about the artists like Camen Lomas Garza and Yolanda Lopez who really pioneered the movements of Chicana art and activism. I feel that a lot of art in this class was centered around politics, but I also absolutely loved seeing and listing to presentations that were just about the beauty of art itself and the Chicana culture. I think that the wikipedia project was so much fun to do, I just feel that I was overwhelmed with a lot of my other deadlines to fully put my all into creating a page for my artist. However, I really do plan to keep adding and doing my part in making the artist feel more represented and seen. Overall, I absolutely loved this class, loved my peers, loved the presenters! And again, I just absolutely love seeing brown art and brown creativity be represented and rejoiced over. 

Week 9

 This week we had a few more students do their presentations on their artists. Even though  everyone did such an amazing job on their presentations and there were so many interesting artists, I gravitated the most to the work of Sand One who was presented by Mara Higuera. I absolutely loved the work that she makes. I think that Mara did such a wonderful job not only presenting her artist but also with all the time an effort the researching took. I think on first impression I was taken a little aback from the cartoonish style that this artist likes to use. I feel like a lot of my favorite artists have been those that create hyper realistic pieces or abstract pieces so to see this cartoonish style used as activism was actually really cool to see. I also love the meaning behind all of her pieces. I feel that on first glance they do not feel like they hold that much meaning, and that is something I struggle as an audience member is sticking around to learn about the deeper meaning behind the paintings. I feel that often if I do not already have a sense of what the artwork means I tend to not be as interested in the object. Thus, this artwork really forced me to deal with that aspect of myself and be patient with the art works that I see. I absolutely fell in love with the personality of the artist as well and i feel like that added to the meaning of the artwork too. I think overall that I love the powerful feminist message behind these unique pieces and I am glad that I was able to be introduced to such a baddass artist. 

Week 8 - Artist Presentations

 I really enjoyed seeing all of the presentations this week on my peer's artists. I think the one that stood out to me the most was Armando Perez's presentation on Brenda Barrios. I feel that her art was the one that most caught my eye because of the messages that it advocated. I was also impressed by her background, being able to juggle being in school and still being able to create art is so admirable. Especially since it is art that is so impactful and needed during this time. The idea of intersectionality comes to mind when I think of this artist. She, not only is part of a marginalized group because she is a Chicana, but also because she is a woman and has a disability. I think it is amazing that she talks about her background and her own challenges in her interviews. Just like with her art she is able to bring awareness to marginalized groups with just her own story. My favorite artwork that was presented was "Essential Workers-- Pay them Hazard Pay" because of the message that the work advocated. I also especially liked the way that Barrios composed the image and the colors that she used. I think this image connected the most with me because I have family members who work as farmers, janitors, etc. I think that all of these jobs are essential and especially in with the pandemic it is important to advocate the significance of these jobs. It is so easy for others to look at these jobs and think that the people working them are uneducated or unmotivated. There is such a stigma on whether or not jobs like these should pay a living wage, and I think that this is so absurd and demeaning. I admire her work so much to be putting these messages out there. 

Week 7

 While reading "Chicanx Graphics in the Digital Age” by Claudia E. Zapata in The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, I was reminded about all of the Instagram infographic posts that have been increasing in popularity. In the texts it discusses how the new technological advances can be seen as revolutionary in the way that the media has become part of the dialogue between art and its audience. According to the text, this new tool has moved art from being just a subject of metaphor. I also agree with what the text says about the accessibility that technology creates. I feel that before the age of technology a lot of art was reserved for the elite and was only valued if artists came from prestigious backgrounds. However, now with how easy it is to create, spread, and find art, people who normally would not be part of the artistic conversation can be included now. The text then talks about several examples of how artists have used art to create political discourse overtime. This made me think about the rise of popularity of Instagram infographics and how these were used to circulate information around during the pandemic. I feel that it is often a controversial topic to credit social media with our main source of politics and news. However, while reading the article I began to really ponder the idea of media and how the social norm would be to trust newspapers and tv news. However, when thinking about this and looking at the various examples that Zapata has presented in her text, it really boils down to the idea that posts on Instagram is just media like newspapers and shows are.  

Week 6

Looking through Xandra Ibarra's website, I really enjoyed the simplicity of the design. The portrait of her draped in royal blue was especially powerful and iconic. I loved the animation clicking through her website. I was immediately drawn to the category, "sculptures" because I feel that socially we are lead to think that the only art that can fit under this category are greek sculptures. I gravitated the most to the sculpture titled, Side by Side (Couple), because I have started to gain an interest in the way that artists portray and depict love. I think that this piece was exceptional in the way that it took two raw and natural objects such as the carcass of cockroaches and used it as a metaphor for eternal love. This idea of taking the dead cockroaches that died together in her Mother's house may allude to the idea that you can find love in the strangest of places, but as long as that love is strong it will preserver and seem to last eternities. I believe that he putting these dead insects on top of rhinestones really set the tone of how precious and beautiful partnerships are. I believe that she had to equate the love that these roaches share with the riches and opulence. I also absolutely love the way that she described that them dying together was an example of the most "capacious form of sharing." I feel that this romanticizes the idea of live that it goes beyond this material world and defies death. I also feel that this is also why it was so important for her to use cockroaches in this context. For insects like these to die together and share the moments of death with each other, it really does show how impactful love can be. 

 Artist Biography Article 

Monica Aissa Martinez  is a visual artist known for her richly intricate, and vibrantly delicate drawings and paintings of anatomical and biological subject matter. 

Biography (or Early Life and Education)

Monica Aissa Martinez (1962) was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She six siblings, who like her have all found appreciation for the arts. Her father, a psychologist and educator, had a passion for Yoga. This early connection to spirituality lead her to be interested in spirit, physiology, and how to portray these matters in an artistic form. Monica later attended the University of Texas at El Paso and earned a masters in fine arts from New Mexico State University. She was married to her husband in 1990 and later moved to Phoenix where she currently resides. Soon after receiving her Master's, Martinez had her first solo exhibition at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary of Art.

Martinez still resides in Phoenix with her husband where she continues to create art and teaches drawing in Phoenix College. 

Art  (or Notable Works or Selected Works. Also Exhibitions, Projects, Collections)

Female Torso - Anterior View, From the series "Nothing in Stasis", Monica Aissa Martinez (born 1962), 2012-2013, 45 × 35 1/2 in. (114.3 × 90.2 cm); Casein, gouache, gesso, tempera, and micaceous iron oxide on canvas

 

Male Torso - Anterior View, Alternate Title, From the series "Nothing in Stasis", Monica Aissa Martinez (born 1962), 2012-2013, Framed: 45 in. × 35 1/2 in. × 1 1/2 in; Casein, gouache, gesso, tempera, and micaceous iron oxide on canvas

 

Hawk Moth, Monica Aissa Martinez (born 1962), 2014; Casein, gouache, gesso, tempera, and micaceous iron oxide on canvas

References

⦁ Burns, James. “Nothing in Stasis: Monica Aissa Martinez.” Images Arizona, 28 Feb. 2018, https://imagesarizona.com/nothing-stasis-monica-aissa-martinez/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2021. 

⦁ Mayank, and Sid. “Art & Life with Monica Aissa Martinez.” Voyagephoenix, 29 Jan. 2019, http://voyagephoenix.com/interview/art-life-monica-aissa-martinez/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2021. 

⦁ Royse, Nicole. “Artist Spotlight on Monica Aissa Martinez.” Az Foothills, https://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/art/113-artists/6987-artist-spotlight-on-monica-aissa-martinez.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2021. 

Further reading

⦁ Artist Blog: https://monicaaissamartinez.wordpress.com/

External links

⦁ Artist website: http://monicaaissamartinez.com/index.html

⦁ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com

⦁ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monicaaissamartinez

Week 5: Lomas Garza (Hernandez, Izcally)

Looking through Carmen Garaza’s paintings I happened upon the painting called Cleaning Nopalitos. I feel like a lot of her paintings can connect to the Mexican community, and many of them create an intimate space between the audience and the work. In this specific work, I feel that I can really connect it to my own experiences growing up. I lived in Mexico for a few years during my elementary school years and feel that this was a familiar scene to me. Whenever we would visit my grandmother she would make us beans and nopales that she would take from the neighbors property. Although the person in the painting is a man, for me it was my grandmother sitting in the chair cleaning the nopales. At the same time, I would remember being a younger girl and sitting and staring at my grandmother doing the most mundane tasks in awe. I especially loved the way that one would clean nopales, I felt that the way that the skin and the slime came off of the surface was so satisfying. Now living in the US, it is a change of scenery as the brick houses are replaced with dry wall. But still, every time my grandma sits down to clean the nopales for us, I always like to stare at the way the needles fall off so gracefully. 

Week 4

     As I read the chapters on Rasquachismo and Domesticana in the book, Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology, I was reminded of the ways that my mother and step father have participated in these kinds of art forms in efforts of practicality. I understand Rasquachismo as a term that describes the expression that an object or set of objects possess. The term refers to making the most out of the least. I understand it as being resourceful and ingenious in a pinch. One example is when I got into a car accident and the hood of my car didn’t close so my dad used string and wire to keep the hood on. Because the hood wasn’t latched in my car kept beeping to show that the hood was open. So, my brother used a pen and wire to keep the button at the bottom of my car hood in place and essentially pretend that the hood was closed. I have a picture attached to show how it was working. Additionally, I have come across instances where I have recognized how my family has also participated in Domesticana. At my grandmas home she reuses a lot of recycled items in efforts to make her altar. For example painted cans of food are used as vases for her flowers. Also her altar itself rests upon a plastic box that she recycled from some kind of cleaning product years ago. Although these aren’t things that one would normally think of as art, it’s the significance that they have on use as a cultural that is truly artistic. 

Abstracts on references for Monica Aissa Martinez

Royse, Nicole. “Artist Spotlight on Monica Aissa Martinez.” Az Foothills, https://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/art/113-artists/6987-artist-spotlight-on-monica-aissa-martinez.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2021. 

Abstract: 

The newspaper article, "Artist Spotlight on Monica Aissa Martinez” as published in the online magazine, az Foothills, introduces the Chicana artist Monica Aissa Martinez as a local talented artist who focuses on intricate depictions of the human body and technology. Throughout the article, the author cites conversions that they had with the artist in order to obtain the information on her. The author notes that Martinez’s inspiration for her delicate artworks is Leonardo da Vinci. Additionally, the article goes into depth regarding her painting, “Vital Commotion”, which the author claims to be a great example of her painting style in regards to the ways in which she utilized color and line. Next, the author addresses the materials that Martinez uses such as casein and egg tempera, which are materials that take longer to work with but are more environmentally conscious. Lastly, the article notes Martinez’s educational background and highlights the fact that she is a local artist who had recently been selected as one of the 102 national artists asked to participate in "State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now." This was a major exhibition in September 2014 to January 2015 that was held in the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. 

Mayank, and Sid. “Art & Life with Monica Aissa Martinez.” Voyagephoenix, 29 Jan. 2019, http://voyagephoenix.com/interview/art-life-monica-aissa-martinez/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2021. 

Abstract: 

In the magazine article, “Art & Life with Monica Aissa Martinez”, as published in VoyagePhoenix, the authors introduce the artist Monica Aissa Martinez through a series of interview questions regarding her life and her work. The first interview question prompted an answer about Martinez’s childhood and her relationship with her siblings and parents in terms of the art world. She talks about her childhood experiences that have ushered her into becoming the artist and educator is today. Martinez also discussed her current endeavors including teaching drawing at Phoenix College. The next question prompts a discussion of the background of her work to which she describes her inspirations to be the physical and metaphysical aspects of the human body. In the end of her interview Monica advises that anyone who wants to connect to local artists should take the step to go to events and exhibitions. Martinez ends the interview by giving her contact information and showing a few pictures of her art exhibitions. 

Burns, James. “Nothing in Stasis: Monica Aissa Martinez.” Images Arizona, 28 Feb. 2018, https://imagesarizona.com/nothing-stasis-monica-aissa-martinez/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2021. 

Abstract: 

In the article, “Nothing in Stasis: Monica Aissa Martinez”, published in the magazine Images Arizona, discusses the artist Monica and the ways in which her heritage is reflected onto her work. The article addresses her artistic upbringing by still commenting on the way her successes were achieved through hard work. This magazine compares Martinez’s art to topographical maps of the body and organic matter. The article also talks about the way in which Martinez’s experiences as a yoga instructor also contribute to her art subject matter. Finally, the article addresses, Nothing in the Stasis, the sixth exhibition at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.  

Virgin de Guadalupe

 My earliest encounters with the image of the Virgin de Guadalupe were a mixture of the various ways that the image was used by my relatives. My mother and father separated when I was 3 years old and my father lived with my grandmother who was a devoted Catholic. Thus, whenever I went to spend the weekend with my father, I would go to church with my grandmother. There I encountered the way that the catholic religion presented the Virgin de Guadalupe. This was in the was of praying the rosary to her and having life-sized images of her in the church. My grandmother also had a frame of her image in her apartment where she had a few other frames with the images of saints around her. She would often point to her whenever we’d get ready to leave to my mother’s house and tell us that shed take care of us until she saw us again. My mother portrayed the Virgin in a different way. Even though, my mother was not catholic she still idolized the Virgin and had many different areas of our house devoted to her. She had a few candles with the image of the Virgin that she would light in times of struggle or when she had a request for the Virgin to grant. One of the most prominent ways that I remember first seeing the Virgin was when my mother got her tattooed on her arm. Around that time she told me the story of why she still believes in the Virgin even though she is not Catholic. My mother, at a young age started to break away from the church and from the catholic practices as she was starting to gravitate more towards her indigenous roots. She named both me and my brother with aztec names and began to take aztec dancing classes and be more immersed in indigenous communities. She never let go of her devotion to the Virgin and this used to puzzle me because of the history that the Catholic Church had with the indigenous communities. However, she told me that the reason she still respects and idolized the image of the Virgin is because it served as a way to preserve the image of Tonantzin, “our Sacred Mother” for the aztecs. My mother believed it served as a testament to the ingenuity of the natives, who mixed the two images and worshiped the catholic Virgin and the image of Tonantzin as one. 

Monica Kim Garaza

2. Arlette Lucero 

3. Monica Aissa Martinez

Hernandez, Izcally

Hi everyone ! 

My name is Izcally Hernandez and I am a senior Neuroscience and Art History double major. My preferred pronouns are she/they. I also go by Iz or Izzy, whichever you prefer! 

I was born and raised in San Diego in a small town called Escondido. I spent a few years living in Mexico, but for the most part my home has been on a little farm in Escondido. I moved to Westwood last September in order to continue my studies and look for jobs/experiences for my career.

I am currently planing on applying to medschool after I graduate. I work two jobs, one as a medical scribe and the other as an office assistant in for the Engineering Department.  I also volunteer as a tutor for homeless students. I am trying to be as involved in my community here in LA by offering my time and energy. 

As a neuro and art history double major many of my classes have revolved around the sciences and a lot of Western art. I have been yearning to take a Latina/o/x art history class so I jumped at the opportunity to take this class. It has been difficult moving to LA and leaving a lot of my support systems and community in San Diego. It had also been difficult to feel included as a queer Mexican woman in STEM. I have been taking more chicano/a/x classes as the years have progressed and I have been loving the sense of community and scholar surrounding the classes. I took CCAS 10B during the summer and found a lot of topics connecting to my current medschool plans. Especially working with patients in the Emergency Department as a medical scribe, I have been able to incorporate my studies into the way I interact with my latina/o/x community and approach questions about their health.  

Overall, I am so excited for this class and the discussions that we will be having.