Presentation: Ester Hernandez

I chose to write about Ester Hernandez because I have read many stories from families who grew up working on farms just to make a living for themselves and I find myself respecting these types of people for their resolve and relentless efforts. Her installations of pastels and prints depict the Latina/ Native women and the realism of the treatment of Chicanas in today’s real world. As a child, Ester Hernandez watched Chicano farm workers marched through her hometown of Dinuba, California. Witnessing the harassment from the local residents, she and her family, greeted the workers as well as their leader Cesar Cháves. While her time in Grove Street College in Oakland, California, her interest involved Chicano Studies, but quickly turned towards Art as an outlet for her emotions. She used her art to portray her anger towards the treatment of women, especially Chicano Women. Hernandez met and joined Rupert Garcia’s classes in San Francisco, there she was invited to enter a Latina women’s’ art exhibition. Her work over her time using art as an outlet has been controversial. Her famous Sun Mad, focuses on her realization on the dangers of growing grapes for the raisin industry. She had worked as a farmhand herself, and after thinking it over she thought it best to transform the Sun Maid to expose the truths behind the, “wholesome figures of agribusiness.” She evolved the famous Sun Maid image to depict the anger and fear of what might happen to her family, her community, and herself. I believe her work not only exploits the harsh conditions of the working Latinx but the struggles Chicanas face socially, politically and spiritually.