Cecilia Alvarez Munoz

In the book Cecilia Alvarez Munoz by Robert Tejeda, he goes in-depth on the various art pieces Munoz did throughout her time. He offers a very detailed history and description of each of the pieces shown. The image I chose was Postales y Sin Remedio (1988). My personal interpretation of it was that it was an immigrant warrior sitting valiantly on his horse with sword in hand looking so brave that even the cat on the side was scared. I assumed he was an immigrant because of the butterfly on the side of the image which has symbolized migration. To me Munoz was trying to show that even though these people hold ordinary jobs like a gardener, they are warriors because they their very presence here in the states is s fight; a fight to stay, to live, and to be happy. However, my interpretation was completely different from what Munoz was really trying to show. She was portraying the “confusion of bilingual realism” meaning how we as people feel is “home” versus how a white person would think of it and the barriers created because of our differences in language, skin color, and culture. For example, the street had the correct spelling of “El Paso” on one sign but then had an incorrect spelling “Il Peso” showing the disconnect and failure to integrate Mexican and U.S culture. Although my interpretation was wrong compared to what Munoz was conveying, I appreciate that about her artwork. That we as viewers are able to come up with our own story and create our own personal connections to it.