Week 5: Ofelia Esparza

Hearing artist Ofelia Esparza speak to us about her art was honestly amazing. Being able to see and hear Esparza's pride in her work helped me remember just how much art affects not only the audience but its creator as well. She is the definition of Chicano pride, not only does her work reflect the culture, it does so with no shame- with no attempt to hide its Latinx influences or gaudiness. She continues to act as a staple in the Chicano art community and the East L.A. community as a whole. There is no way that someone can listen to her speak on her art and inspirations without some sort of admiration. her work is often centered around women, inspired by the "warrior women" she was raised by and learned of, the matriarchs. She worked on a Los Angeles themed altar for the Natural History Museum that I had not known about but am most definitely going to visit some time. Esparza's work is all about memory and retaining that said memory and sharing it. The idea that we all have three deaths was something that my mother would tell me when I was a child that has stuck with me since and made me sob when presented in Coco (which Esparza consulted on- utterly cool), and hearing it from someone as amazing as Ofelia Esparza made me realize just how detrimental this third death is and the essentiality of  memory. It was lovely to be able to hear from her and see her work.