Week 10 Reflection

Before taking this class, I had hardly known any Chicana artists. Through this one quarter class, I learned about many great Chicana female artists and opened the door to a whole new world for me. I was most impressed with artist Xandra Ibarra, whose performance art, installations and photography I really enjoyed. I think she has her soul and ideas wrapped up in each of her artworks.

Of her body of work, I especially like Xandra's sculptures. She has said that the materials she uses for her sculptures are often the same materials she uses in her performances. I really like one of her sculpture series named Strobelite Honeys (2019). I felt a huge visual impact about this work when I first saw it. The scene is very reminiscent of nightlife divas in the nightclub life, where you can even imagine them taking off their heavy cheap furs, extinguishing the burning cigarettes in their hands, and then walking onto the dance floor to finish a pole dance with the music. The scene is both pleasant and depraved. Xandra's work is undeniably vivid, full of conflict and contradiction, and Xandra has stated that she draws inspiration for her sculptures from sexual subcultures, which are inherently controversial and contradictory. These cultures are inherently controversial and full of contradictions. Just like Strobelite Honeys, there is pleasure, desire, beauty and cheapness in this work.

Xandra does not directly respond to her political commitments in her work, but she does personally engage in immigrant justice and feminist activism. Xandra's art is always breaking down barriers, which is why I admire her work and her philosophy. Art is supposed to be bold and rebellious like that. I am very happy to have learned about such a great artist this semester.

Week 9 Artist Presentation

I enjoyed watching the artists presentation. One of the presentations that impressed me is the one of Carmen Linares-Kalo, presented by Helena Alcala. Carmen Ali area-Kalo is a fourth generation spiritualist, and she is a muralist in San Diego right now. A majority of her work is on display for the most part in San Diego. Most of her works shown in the presentation were done on the underpass piers.

I was impressed by a mural that was introduced during the presentation. It's a mural in Chicano Park, and it's probably one of Carmen’s biggest pieces. I was shocked to learn that this piece took her 26 years to plan and two weeks to complete. You can see that the amount of work required to complete this piece is huge and it's full of her dedication. The mural contains a lot of colors and is gorgeous to look at. There are many animals on this mural, such as a cow, a snake and a coyote, and the fact that all these animals represent humans makes this work very interesting to me. This work is not only colorful and beautiful, but also contains a very deep symbolic meaning.

The second mural presented in the presentation was in honor of the Kumeyaay people, the indigenous people of San Diego. This made me realize that by creating these murals, Carmen is not only promoting Chicano culture, but also paying tribute to the history of San Diego and its indigenous culture. I think her work is full of humanism.

I hope I can see these excellent works in person one day.

Week 8 Artist Presentation

The presentations are all amazing, and I really enjoyed them a lot. I would like to review the presentation about Graciela Carrillo shared by Jacqueline Torres. Graciela Carrillo was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1950, and she attended San Francisco Art Institute in 1969. 

One of the most impressive pieces in the presentation was a mural named Latino America. There are many symbols in this art work that have symbolic meaning. This artwork shows a Mexican American Community and the reality and experiences of the Mexican American women. The corn in the mural shows the Mexican American focus on farming, fields, and food. Graciela also shows the women who were able to connect their educational knowledge with their cultural roots in this mural. The mural is bright and bold in color and shows a rich and vibrant scene. It gave me a glimpse into the way of life of an ethnic community that I hadn't known much about before.

Another piece I really like is from her print, Marzo, also called March, which depicts another indigenous man with angel wings being guided by figures to the calendar. The man's angel wings and his strong arms represent his distinctive identity, and it is possible that he is a sacred, revered figure. The calendar is an important symbol of the Chicanos, who created it to estimate and identify time for more efficient farming.

I enjoyed watching the presentations, I could see a world I knew little about before here, and it taught me a lot of new things.

Week 7 Claudia Zapata

We read “Chicanx Graphics in Digital Age” by Claudia E Zapata together, and in this essay, she addresses the impact of the development of digital platforms and the impact of the digitization of art on Mexican people, Chicano/a, and people of color. Through this essay, I found that with the development of digital technology, the digitization of art was pushed and the presentation of Chicano graphics was expanded, thus pushing the development of social movements of Mexican people, Chicano/a, and people of color.

One of the most impressive examples to me is the project Justice for Our Lives (p142). Artist Oree Originol innovated the way posters were previously only produced through printing or hand-drawn images by uploading images and names of victims to a public website platform so that more people could download, print, and distribute them. Through this example, I realized that the development of digital platforms has been a great catalyst for art and social movements. The effect of digitizing art is not only to make distribution easier, but also to create a larger Internet community through digital platforms, through which more and more people can access information, connect and bond with others who share similar background experiences. This means that, compared to the non-digital age, the digital age of art allows an unimaginably larger number of people to share the same information and ideas, and on this basis, a social movement becomes more widespread and more easily valued than ever before.

I grew up in a world that has witnessed the explosion of digital, online, and informational development over the past 20 years. People are now very accustomed to accessing and disseminating knowledge, information and ideas through digital and online platforms. The digitalization of art is the result of the artists' response to the development of this era. Claudia's essay gave me an insight into the efforts and contributions of Mexican artists, Chicanx artists, and artists of color to promote social movements in the digital age. 

Week 6

As I browsed Xandra Ibarra's website, I learned that she is an artist who expresses her art through many forms of media. I think many of her works are not difficult to understand and even many people can get some resonance from them.

I like a lot of her work, one of my favorites is Ashes of Five Feminist of Color Texts, which I don't think is difficult to understand and I appreciate the point of view that this work is trying to convey to the people who see it. The whole sculpture is a funeral for these five texts. Each of the texts has dried flowers placed next to it, which means that the texts are being mourned by someone. The fires that are burning in the hanging photographs are like a cremation of these texts. If someone enters the museum's galleries and sits on the cedar bench of the installation, it is like someone who enters a funeral and begins to mourn the dead.

I share Xandra's view of what she wants to show through this installation. Nowadays, there are many people who, in order to achieve a certain goal or to promote a certain idea, will use sexual interpretations of texts, like the five texts in this installation. Some people even use certain doctrines as a gimmick to perform some "performances". I feel sad and regretful about this phenomenon. I also feel sorry for those texts and ideas that have been misunderstood and exploited. This feeling is similar to the regret and nostalgia that one feels when attending a funeral. I think the funeral for these texts means both that the purity of these texts that were not used and misunderstood when they were first created no longer exists, and that these texts will be relieved and will never experience those regrettable things again. And as spectators of the funeral, the viewers will begin to miss and yearn for a time when ideas and opinions could be expressed in their purest form.

My question is, why did Xandra choose these five texts and not others? What inspired her to create such a work?

Week 5: Carmen Lomas Garza Image

As I was browsing through Carmen Lomas Garza’s paintings, I was captivated by this bed for dreams. I love this piece! I know her paintings are usually brightly colored, and each painting is highly saturated with color and looks exquisite. This painting, on the other hand, is not very bright because it is depicting a night, but I felt a sense of peace and relaxation from it. I really like the feeling that this painting gives me.

The painting is mainly in dark tones, depicting a peaceful and tranquil ordinary night. There are a few clouds and a round moon in the night sky. The moonlight is bright but soft, as if it is whispering good night to people. The moon could be seen weaving in and out of the cloud shadows, so I guessed it was a breezy night. The house was surrounded by leafy trees, lush greenery, and small flowers in full bloom. I guess on such a night, the sound of the leaves and plants must be very nice when the breeze passes by. The night is quiet but not silent, it must be a wonderful night.

In terms of detail, there are two areas where the painting differs from the darkness in its vivid colors. One is the scene of two children enjoying the moon on the roof, and the other is the scene of the mother making the bed for the two children with the house lights on. The colors of these two scenes are bright and warm, and the feelings brought by these two scenes themselves are also very lovely and warm. The children are happily lying on the roof, talking while enjoying the moon, without any other complicated worries, their happiness is very pure. And the mother at home in the brightly lit house for the two children to make the bed, only for the children can happily go to sleep at night. As a mother, her children are the object she cares most about and devotes most of her efforts to, so it is her sincere hope that they can be healthy and happy every day and sleep peacefully at night. The movements of the characters and the colors of the scene they are in show that their lives are peaceful and happy.

Overall, this is a work that can make people feel warm and tranquil. The painting is both vivid and real, as if it is a true reflection of a night in the community where the artist used to live. I really like this work.

Zhang，Xinyu Week 4

According to Tomas Ybarra-Frausto，Rasquachismo describes the attitude and lifestyle of Chicanos who are at the bottom of the social ladder, or the underprivileged in society, to use their limited material conditions or resources to recreate in order to satisfy their material and spiritual needs. From an artistic point of view, it is an act of ingeniously and happily piecing together objects that are readily available to create vibrant and useful objects.

In my opinion, the emergence of Rasquachismo, although first used to describe a worldview of the working class of Mexican descent and the aesthetics behind it, is a phenomenon that exists all over the world because when people have limited material conditions, they use the limited objects around them to create more possibilities to satisfy needs beyond those material conditions. In many countries and regions, there are phenomena such as people making percussion instruments out of used stainless steel pots and pans, putting together a painting out of discarded mineral water bottles, making a new dress or carpet out of a few pieces of worn-out clothes and fabrics. In my opinion, Rasquachismo is a wonderful way of life because behind these actions is the pursuit of a better life and artistic aesthetics. Despite the limited objective material conditions, human creativity is infinite.

Personally, even though I am not of Mexican descent, Rasquachismo is also present in my life. As you can see in this photo, this is a decorative green plant that sits in my kitchen. Technically, this is not a bottle of greenery, as the plant has only branches and leaves and no roots. The branches were scratched off by my cat from one of my pots of greenery. At first, I just wanted to clean them up as garbage, but later I found that the branches and leaves were growing well, so I found a glass vase that was to be discarded, cleaned it, and used it as a vase for the branches and leaves, and placed them in my kitchen as decoration. Since then, my kitchen has been alive and vibrant.

These are my personal views and opinions on Rasquachismo.

Cristina Cardenas

Exhibition：Unapologetic: All Women, All Year

SMoCA, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art  SCOTTSDALE | ARIZONA | USA

FEB 15, 2020 - JAN 17, 2021

This exhibition is to highlight diverse female artists whose work boldly and unapologetically parses themes of identity, beauty, violence and peace, among others.

The title of this exhibition conveys a sense of power, heralding a systemic shift in culture where people of all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, classes, ages and abilities can see themselves represented in the museum. On view during the 100th anniversary of the Women's Suffrage Movement in the United States, Unapologetic: All Women, All Year aims to create a space that acknowledges the importance of equality in cultural institutions.

Cristina Cardenas’ s work is also included in this exhibition.

https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Unapologetic--All-Women--All-Year/E179940BD653855F

Virgin of Gualalupe Week 3

I am a Chinese, and before I came to the United States to study abroad, there was hardly any Chicanx or Latin-related culture present in my culture and upbringing, so I never knew about Virgin of Guadalupe. I first learned about Virgin of Guadalupe during the summer of 2019 when my friends and I drove to San Diego for vacation, where I saw a painting of Virgin of Guadalupe in a Mexican-inspired restaurant. 

At first, I didn't know who the lady in the portrait was, I thought she was the Virgin Mary, but after I returned to my place, I learned through looking up information on the Internet that she was Virgin of Guadalupe. From then on, this opened the door to my knowledge of Chicanx culture and religion.

Looking at the image of Virgin of Guadalupe from a spectator's point of view, as a whole, I see Virgin of Guadalupe surrounded by a holy light, which reminds me of "holiness" and "peace". In addition, I see her feet on the moon held up by angels, which reminds me of "holiness" and "divinity". Because I think her feet on the moon indicates that her existence is beyond the human world, and the angel holding the moon on her foot indicates that she is respected and protected.

In detail and on a deeper level, the crown that will appear in the image of Virgin of Guadalupe, the background of light, and the element of roses all symbolize the greatness and sacredness of motherhood that Virgin of Guadalupe displays as a female figure, and the qualities of tolerance and giving that woman emphasize for people. Underneath her sacred image, she also represents the nurturing and redemption of Mexico.

This is my understanding and impression of Virgin of Guadalupe. Although my current understanding of Virgin of Guadalupe may not be comprehensive or accurate, these are my real experiences and feelings related to Virgin of Guadalupe. I think Virgin of Guadalupe is important for me to understand the culture and history of Chicanx.

Cardenas, Cristina

1. Cardenas, Cristina

2. Amezquita, Jackie

3. Mendoza, Connie

Zhang, Xinyu (Xinyu or Cassie)

 

Hello everyone! My name is Xinyu Zhang, and I prefer to be called Xinyu, or Cassie, if you think “Xinyu” is not that easy to pronounce. My preferred pronouns are She/Her/Hers. I am a first year transfer international student, and I major in Linguistics and Asian Languages and Cultures. I am very happy to be here, and I am looking forward to meeting all of you at class! 

I am a Linguistics and ALC major, under the College of Letters and Science. I chose this major because I was born and raised in Beijing, China, so I have a deep affinity and interest in Asian languages and cultures. In addition, I have enjoyed learning different languages from various countries since I was a child, so I wanted to delve into the origins, composition, and development of human languages in college. I am the first international student in my family. My parents both completed their undergraduate degrees in China, so they were very supportive of me coming to the United States to study and learn the language as well as the culture of a different country here. I hope that I can share what I have seen and learned about the cultures of different countries at UCLA with my family so that they can also learn about the great cultures and histories of other countries and peoples in the world.  

I decided to take this class because I knew very little about Chicanx and Latinx culture and art beforehand, but I always wanted to find an opportunity to learn more about it, and this class was the perfect opportunity to open the door to Chicanx and Latinx culture and art. In addition, I have a keen interest in the role of females in the arts and their creative output. I strongly agree that the power of female artists should receive more attention and support in this day and age. I'm looking forward to knowing more great artists in this class!