Goldman and Lopez: The Iconography of Chicana/o Self-Determination

In “The Iconography of Chicano Self-Determination: Race, Ethnicity, and Class,” Shifra M. Goldman discusses how Chicana/o artists explored and thus, expressed their self-identities in their art, usually manifesting themes of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class (167). Throughout the essay, Goldman not only defines what race, class, and ethnicity mean, but goes on to provide specific examples of artworks and/or histories that illustrate each theme. For example, Goldman explains that race and racism was inexistent in North America, rather it was brought from the Europeans and in efforts to revoke European heritage, Chicana/o art only celebrates post-Columbian culture (167). Ethnicity is then defined as, “the set of activities, traits, customs, rituals, and other emblems of signification that are rooted in group histories,” or as I interpret it, a cultural identity (169); needless to say, class creates a hierarchy built on wealth and/or working status. Accordingly, much, if not all, of Yolanda M. Lopez’s work stressed the importance of self-determination, therefore I chose Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1978 to discuss Lopez’s expression of self-identity. Although, Lopez did not include herself in the piece, her mother Margaret ultimately epitomized the woman Lopez was. The artwork does not romanticize the working class experience, rather truthfully depicts the working status of the common brown woman which is seen in Margaret’s serious and exhausted facial expression. This artwork effortlessly accentuates the intersectionality of class, gender, and race and how each are meshed together to shape the experience of working class Raza women. Above all, I think Lopez’s work is particularly interesting because she goes so far as to include gender as an important component of self-identification, while much of the early Chicano art overlooked issues of gender.  

Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1979.
Oil pastel on paper, 22 x 30 inches.