Yolanda M Lopez and Chican@ self determination

In The iconography of Chicano Self-Determination: race, ethnicity, and class, Goldman situates Chican@ art and artists within a timeline that allows us to clearly view some of the social climates and conditions that were present when these artists were at work, as well as some of the most prominent icons that have been used over and over again as symbols of culture including the pachuco and la virgen in order to facilitate chicano/as' quests for self-identity and empowerment. She goes over a trajectory of artists and how they used common motifs such as references to class, mexican history, styles that have been formed and memorialized for ever (zoot suits), and the ways in which women artists contributed to the more gendered aspects of identity. She claims that knowing our own history as descendants of the tragic history of colonialism and genocide in mexico is essential to understanding the issues such as racism, class divisions, and overall oppression that remains today. Although not clearly stated, she also discusses how it wasn't until women artist came into exposure that new images of women streaming away from the idealized, weak, dormant woman such as the one often shown in the Aztec Indian's hands and onto renditions closer to reality, such as Yolanda's work which depict and glorify working class women, old women, middle-aged over weight women, young, and self assertive women and women who are active and unafraid to take on the world. Her nine drawings of herself, her mother, and her grandmother are an excellent example of this empowering mode of portraiture.  By naming each drawing individually Lopez emphasizes the uniqueness of each woman and accentuates every feature that is familiar and special to her in a familial, real, and nonsexualized manner. Which draws attention to the true, honest, and modest vision that she has of women, given that she grew up with no male figures imposing that patriarchal component. In this way, as Alma Gaspar de Alba mentioned in lecture and as it has been said in past readings, Yolanda Lopez is placing her own body, unashamedly, at the center of her mode of expression, confronting the viewer with her realistic, imperfect feminine ancestry and genealogy in all of its perfection.