What I Learned

This was the first time I had ever taken an art class and doing so really opened my eyes to a whole new experience.  I feel like I learned a lot about how “art happens” and it really makes me feel like there’s always more to be discovered behind what the eye can see.  What I mean by that is that just because art is aesthetically pleasing, does not necessarily mean that its motivation may be equally pleasing.  In fact through this class I’ve noticed that art can be used to illustrate a broad range of feeling or emotions.  Perhaps a piece could be calm and serene, while other pieces are angry and stirring up a flurry of messages and emotions about a certain issue. 

I really liked learning drawing and coloring techniques in class as well because they really showed me that even with no artistic experience whatsoever, one can create a piece of art with an immense amount of meaning in it.  It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece work of art that is worthy of hanging in a museum, but rather it is the meaning that one puts into a piece of art that will truly give it its real value.

Chicana Printmakers

Printmaking is a type of art which aided by the use of powerful computer graphics nowadays allow artists to not only create amazing masterpieces, but also allows for the rapid distribution of their art.  This is a good thing especially in today’s world because technology allows for a rapid spread and sharing of information.  Printmakers are able to take their art and spread it around quickly, and effectively spreading their message to the masses.  A lot of printmakers work deals with growing social issues as well as political issues and topics that interest the general public. 

Printmaking has become quite widespread as it is an easy medium to use which requires a computer and some creativity.  Favianna Rodriguez is a chicana printmaker who uses her art to make a strong statement using her art to have her ideas heard.  She uses her art as a source of empowerment for woman and brings about “pussy power” or the idea that women are powerful as well, and that being female is not an inhibiting factor. 

Carmen Lomas Garza

I liked a lot of art that Carmen Lomas Garza produced because it manages to evoke strong nostalgia of the past.  I found that many of her art pieces incorporate images of things that I can relate to because they are all tied around religion, family, spirituality, etc.  She manages to capture a lot of the essence of what it means to be of Mexican heritage through her artwork.

Garza created several images which depict a woman referred to as a “curandera,” or a healer.  Although I didn’t necessarily grow up knowing a healer, I did grow up with several home remedies to help cure illnesses.  I remember my mother used to give us these teas and use vapor rub almost religiously to help us overcome fevers and colds a lot quicker.  I was never even sure whether these remedies did work faster or better than over the counter cold medicine, but the belief that there are home remedies to cure illness is something that was passed down from my grandmother, to my mother, and then to myself.

Another thing I noted of many of Garza’s works is the presence of a religious artifact, whether it’s a cross, or a painting of the virgin of Guadalupe, or a saint’s statue.  These are items that are present in my home and they are common to the homes of many Latino families I’ve known as well.  These images are something that brings comfort and denotes our faith in certain ideals and beliefs.  

Letter to Marion Martinez

Dear Marion Martinez,

I recently did some research and prepared a presentation of some of your artwork for an art class I am taking.  I have to say that I was amazed and impressed with a lot of your work because of the creativity and artistic skill you are demonstrating in these pieces of art. I appreciate immensely that you are using old pieces which many may consider to be “junk” and build such beautiful sculptures with them.

I would love to know what inspired you to decide to build art pieces using the materials you use and why you choose to do so.  It really makes your artwork stand out and shows that you are a person who is thoughtful and motivated.  I’ve noted that a lot of your works depict religious figures, animals, figurines and there are many more which are of a more abstract nature.  Nonetheless these things show that you are of a religious upbringing and are also conscious of environmental issues (which are shown by your use of recycled materials to build art). 

The amount of details in the art pieces you’ve created are in particular astounding.  I never knew that something as common as a computer chip could be used as art, but you have only reinforced the idea that art isn’t necessarily what something is built out of, but rather, art is created when something gains value in a personal level.

Sincerely,

Hector Prado 

Response to Janel Preciado

This week I’ve chosen to respond to a post by Janel Preciado regarding a piece done by Ester Hernandez.  The piece which was selected was that of the “Sun Mad Raisins” and I particularly liked what Janel about Hernandez’s use of a skeleton woman on the façade of the box.  I feel that the message which Ester intended for her viewing audience is easily interpreted because it provides such a stark contrast compared to the mainstream raisin box image.  The original image depicts a beautiful young woman and the logo says Sun Maid natural California raisins whereas Ester’s reworking of the image shows a skeleton woman with a logo that reads Sun Mad unnaturally grown. 

Another thing I liked which Janel mentioned was that she was instilled with knowledge of personal health from her mother.  The raisins were not necessarily part of a healthy diet because of all the insectides, miticides, herbicides, or fungicides which may be present in the fruit.  The growing process was done very sloppily and the health of the general public was not being taken into account.   I feel that I can connect with Janel because my mother also raised me to be conscious of the things I was eating and making sure that I had good healthy options.

Week Five: Laura Aguilar

This week, I found that the presentation about Laura Aguilar stood out the most.  She was a self-taught photographer who works mainly with the portrayal of her body and the environment which she is in.  I found this to be rather interesting because it is an expressive form of art which is not as commonly seen.  Aguilar wants to show herself off in a way which would portray her different lifestyle.  She is a Latina and a Lesbian, which constitutes two different minority groups and through her art and photographs, she tries to show the beauty of the female body through a somewhat unorthodox approach.  She is a heavyset woman, but she embraces this and flaunts her body image.

She poses in different locations, fully nude, in order to show her body and how it is accentuated by her surroundings.  Many photographs show Aguilar laying on different landscapes to show the contours of her body compared to the contours of the background.  She aims to break the negative stereotypes that people have about Latinas and Lesbians and show that there is more than one conception of what beauty is, and it isn’t always encapsulated in the beauty of attractive women, but sometimes hidden within and expressed through art.  

Margarita Cuaron

               The presentation about Margarita “Mita” Cuaron was one which I found interesting. There were various works by her which present the Virgin of Guadalupe in different perspectives and yet there is a connection among them all.  One motif which I noted about Margarita Cuaron’s art is the peculiar use of watermelon in many of her pieces.  La Virgen de Sandia, is a different rendition of the virgin of Guadalupe, but one of the things which most stood out to me was the fact that the crescent moon was replaced by a slice of watermelon. 

The use of fruit in an image could possibly represent fertility of women.  This could bring about an interesting point because although the virgin was in fact the representation of a pure and chaste woman, the fruit can provide a contrast to that by stating just because she is chaste does not mean she can’t be fertile as well.  There are other pieces by Cuaron which show a fertility of woman through images of fruit.  I remember one image in particular which depicted a woman’s bare breasts as she holds a slice of watermelon like a baby.  The fruit represents her fertility and ability to produce life. I see Margarita Cuaron’s art as a way to embrace a woman’s gift of creating life and being fruitful. 

F2014PradoHector

I based my stencil off of the logo for Metallica. I had a hard time deciding on what to create a stencil for because I had to factor in the fact that I wanted something that represents what I like as well as something within my artistic capabilities.  I was torn between this and a Darth Vader silhouette, but ultimately decided on Metallica because they’ve been one of my favorite metal bands. I’ve always enjoyed music as a form of expression and their music has provided a window into another world.  For me, being able to put on a pair of headphones and drift away into the music offers a temporary relief from everyday life.

Also, I chose to put a band name not only because I consider music to be an integral part of my life. Through music I am able to express and understand feelings or emotions which sometimes words are unable to convey, just as visual images can convey so much that words can’t. After this first stencil assignment, I have come to realize how readily available these supplies are for creating art. Manila folders and X-acto knives are common items that I encounter and yet I’ve never really gotten the inspiration to take it into my hands to create something out of it. Now after the success of my Metallica stencil, I want to move onto making a more complex stencil for the backside of my Moleskine notebook.

F2014PradoHector

Hello everyone! I’m a bit late to the game so I’ll try to catch up with everyone. My name is Hector Manuel Prado. I’m a third year Physics major with a Chicano Studies minor. I’m from El Monte and was raised in the San Gabriel Valley. I am involved with organizations such as the Community Programs Office as well as with Hermanos Unidos.  I decided to take this course because I felt that it would offer a broad spectrum of ideas that I don’t normally think of in my everyday like and I thought this could be a refreshing experience. I’m not really artistically inclined although I do love to appreciate art of all types of art including visual art, music, spoken word, etc.  I hope that I’ll be able to learn something about art to be able to produce my own works.

Gaspar de Alba’s readings were particularly interesting to read because it is something that I have such little knowledge about. It’s shocking to me to know that there is an entire collection of chicana cultural art that is so little known to myself and very likely many people.  The world seems to have a bias towards what types are art are worthy of recognition.  Women unfortunately tend to be criticized more harshly or their opinions/ideas are taken with less seriousness. This is not to say that their achievements are not noteworthy, but I’m saying quite the opposite. When we learn about something we know nothing about, we gain the most wealth of knowledge.  Chicana artists have extremely powerful messages that vary immensely from the ideas of males.  These women have been categorized in a stereotypical way and the art they create is a way of breaking those barriers and having their inner voices heard.

I plan to do my artist presentation on Cecilia Alvarez.

Finally I did grow up with the Virgin of Guadalupe in my family. I was raised a catholic and was taught that she needed to be respected because she was the mother of god. In Catholicism, she is considered to be a pure woman. She appeared before Juan Diego and made roses, not native to Mexico appear out of season. Juan collected the roses in his tilma and when he went to go present them, the tilma had the notable image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.  I saw a copy of the original image every week when we would go to church and it was a common thing in my life. As crazy as it may seem, when Gaspar de Alba came in to lecture and showed us artist variations of the Virgen, I was shocked because I had never seen anything like them.

My initial reaction was sort of like the feeling you get when something has been violated or vandalized, but the way Gaspar de Alba explained the motives behind the art and the ideas they were meant to evoke, I felt an idea click. It’s an image, not meant to be disrespectful in any sense, but rather meant to portray a different meaning. Although new ideas may sometimes seem scary, I feel like challenging those old ideas is a great way to learn about other things which you yourself may never have thought of.