Week 5: Chicana Printmaking and Printmakers

Through reading and thoroughly dissecting Holly Barnet Sanchez's brilliant essay "Where are the Chicana Printmakers? Presence and Absence in the work of Chicana Artists of the Movimiento", I realized that despite making vast contributions to the art movements of years prior, such as in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, many Chicana artists were, and are still, overlooked by society, even within their respective Chicanx communities. Even though Chicana artistic impression was often more honest, and believable, Sanchez discusses how male artists were usually given the spotlight for their artistic depictions of life, culture, and even Latina or Chicana females. Although this was the case, and to some extent continues to ring true, it was the Chicana community that made sweeping advancements technologically, taking advantage of printmaking equipment and making productive strides in both the art and civil rights movements. It was through the usage of printmaking, by Chicana printmakers, that political messages and artivism spoke the loudest throughout the era of hardship and inequality. Although these women were not well represented on the battlefront of these acts of protestation, it was their printmaking contributions that allowed the movement to become as strong as it did, through mass media production, consistency, and bold messaging.

After the dust settled and societal disunity began to slowly dimish, many people began to realize that Chicana artists had strongly established themselves as significant artists who were as, and perhaps even more, deserving of recognition and acclaim than the male artists in society. It is also imperative to note that the historically underrepresented Chicanx community, as a whole, began to garner praise and commendation. Chicana women inflated their sense of importance and reminded themselves that they had a prominent role to play in society, despite what anyone would say. Chicana printmaking, among other mediums of art, have propelled Chicana artists to be equally and justly represented in society.