Last week during presentation many classmates showed the many sides of famous and up and coming Chicana artists. Last week the artist that stood out to me the most was Laura Aguilar. Laura Aguilar's photographs were interesting and striking. Throughout the presentation, my fellow classmate displayed a new way of looking at the body through the use larger bodies to the art world sphere. From mimicking the land while nude to transgressive art making Laura Aguilar’s art paved the way for new strategies and executions. From the presentation, the artwork that stood out to me was the “How Mexican is Mexican.” Through this piece and the title alone, this piece exploits one’s self-identity as a Mexican. This piece was a triptych involving three photographs of women, each separated by borders, containing a quote by the person in the photograph and each having 4 thermometers at the bottom. The quotes explain how each person in the pictures feel towards their own identities of being of Mexican descent while the thermometers display temperatures signifying their connections to their Mexican roots. In this case the higher the temperature, the more connected the person in the picture feels connected to her Mexican roots. I choose this picture and artist because it made me question how high my thermometers would be. From being judged from being too Mexican from racist locals to being called not "Mexican enough" from some family members, I feel that my identity is one of kind but made from the roots made by the people who raised me, and their roots are also of Mexican descent.
I totally agree with you! I feel like within the Chicanx community we are always trying to validate our identity and are shamed if we do not fit the "criteria." However, in reality there is no definite or explicit definition of what it means to be Chicanx, the term/identity is always progressing and will continue to progress into becoming a more inclusive term. Additionally, I really admire this art piece because I feel like Aguilar is poking fun of what it means to be Chicanx and how there is no actual definite scale of how Chicanx someone is, it is all arbitrary. Also, I feel that she is telling her viewers to reevaluate themselves and their role within the community.
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