Jaqueline Lopez

 

Hello everyone, I am Jaqueline Lopez (she/her), but you can call me Jackie for short. I am a second-year Chicane and Central American Studies Major here at UCLA. I'm currently the administrative assistant for MEChA Calmecac, so if you have any questions or want to know how to get involved with MEChA, please talk to me! Alongside this course, I will be starting my first research program this quarter called Research Rookies. I am interested in researching student retention spaces at UCLA to see how we can improve our services. My goal is to attend graduate school and become a Chicane Studies professor sometime in the future. 

Get to know me a little better: I’m a  5-foot Sagittarius with a very energetic aura. I have two beautiful dogs, named Lucky and Scott. My hobbies include painting, sewing, and mostly upcycling clothes. One of my favorite things to do is watch anime, k-dramas, and movies. I love to travel, try new foods, and learn about different cultures. One of my goals this year is to learn Japanese on my own. 

I am interested in the Chicana Art and Artists course because I haven’t had the chance to learn more in-depth about Chicane Art. In Anzaldua’s writing, she mentions how Chicano artists are heavily inspired by Mayan and Aztec art as a form of decolonization and healing. In ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, the artwork that stood out the most to me was Ester Hernandez’s Libertad for three reasons. The first is her creative use of Mayan art to transform the iconic Statue of Liberty; in a way, she is making the statement that indigenous art also has a place in America. The second reason is that she was “among the first to challenge the passive role assigned to women in early-movement organizations, art, and statements'' (Ramos 40).  By placing the woman beside the Statue of Liberty, who is carving the Mayan figures, she depicts that women are just as capable of producing art and making a statement. The last is her critique of U.S nationalism and colonization by placing the world AZTLAN at the bottom of the statue. She is portraying the act of retaking the land and the liberties of black indigenous people of color.