week 8

     The presentations last week were all very thorough. They introduced me to new artists and the works of these artists were very inspiring. I particularly like the works of Santa Barraza. She creates powerful images of Chicanas with vibrant color. Like Carmen Lomas Garza, she intentionally exaggerated the linear quality of her works to mimic that of the retablo traditions of New Mexico, Retable are small devotional images of saints composed of flat color blocks. By referencing the flatness of retablos, Santa Barraza elevates her depiction of ordinary women to something sacred like retablos. She also establishes a one-to-one dialogue between image and viewer about Chicana womanhood. 

    What I found interesting is that Santa Barraza, like Yolanda Lopez, use ordinary women as her subject matters as well. Compare to Lopez, who recreate the image of Guadalupe with ordinary women, Santa Barraza's use of retable also glorifies ordinary Chicana and claims them to be the new standard of beauty. Santa Barraza's vibrant color also draws my attention. Primary colors are used the most in her works. With vibrant red, blue, yellow, the artists further makes her depiction of these ordinary Chicana powerful. And with the contrast between complementary colors, her works have a power to attract you in the new world that the artist created.

    All the presentations on paintings are very inspiring. After seeing more paintings by Chicana artists, I started to see the similarities and distinctiveness between their works. And I can not wait to see more presentations in other mediums!