8-Cristina Cardenas

During Jennifer Cardenas-Barajas's presentation, I was particularly enthralled by Cristina Cardenas' mural. It appears to be made in the medium of painted ceramic tile, which is just one of my favorites. Looking up this image,  which is in Tucson, the details and imagery it incorporates are more visible. It's really an amalgam of STUFF, combining indigenous Mexican iconography with later folk traditions. One corner has the hummingbird associated with the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and of war. The sunstone peeks in from the background. A piñata is painted near it. A farmworker is bent down on the side, and a mountainous landscape seems to appear behind him. Everything is framed by a geometric pattern on the top and bottom, with a floral motif on the sides.

I found a video in which Cardenas talks about her work and this piece particularly, and she, of course, cites the influence of the three great Mexican muralists. She sees herself as a direct part of that tradition, especially because her teacher, when she studied art in Mexico, had actually been David Alfaro Siqueiros' assistant.

I'm really curious about her process for these murals, how she plans them, what technique she uses on the tiles (?), and what the size of her team is (because I assume this is a large undertaking). This style of mural is different from the ones we have generally seen in the Chicano movement. It was great to learn about her and the other artists discussed during the presentations, with many more to come.