Last week I attended the Denver Art Museum panel presentation/ discussion. The panelists discussed Mexican Modernism and how that has influenced Chicanx art and artists today.
It was a nice surprise that Professor Lopez was one of the panelists so we were able to learn more about her art practices. I especially enjoyed learning about the Aztec mythology that has inspired her work. My favorite art piece that she talked about was the one that was inspired by the Aztec myth of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. The story goes that Princess Iztaccíhuatl was in love with warrior Popocatépetl and she was sad that he was going off to war so she killed herself. Popocatépetl found her dead so he took her body to the top of a mountain hoping that the cold would wake her up and they both turned into volcanoes. After telling the story Professor Lopez pointed out elements in her piece that referenced this myth and she explained how she aimed to retell, or rather complete, this story.
In Professor Lopez’s art piece, Iztaccíhuatl was actually just sleeping and waiting for Popocatépetl to go away so her princess could come be with her. I was actually surprised to hear this context because I was familiar with the widespread imagery of an indigenous man carrying a dead-looking indigenous woman, but I did not know what it was about. I liked hearing how Professor Lopez extended the story rather than creating a whole other one in a parallel universe. I thought it was significant that Professor Lopez kept the original story and added to it instead of simply replacing Popocatépetl with another princess. Professor Lopez was able to normalize queerness by placing it in context with what was already going on the world instead of creating another world for it.
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