Rasquache is a deep inward feeling rather than an intellectual description. It's not a concept or a style that can be adopted or understood by studying it. This is more of an attitude or a taste that one becomes acquainted with through experience. Scholar Tomas Ybarra-Frausto views rasquachismo as an “underdog perspective”(Gonzalez, 85) in a working class Mexican-orgin community. Rasquache is an aesthetic commonly used in the Working class Chicano art movements that makes “do with what’s at hand”(Gonzalez, 86). We see this used in Yolanda Lopez’s work when she uses unrefined materials to create her artworks. Not only is this showcasing her “rasquache sensibility” (Davalos, 15) but it is also intervening against the eurocentric notions of art by not using fine materials.
Similar to its male counterpart, domesticana is the female rasquachismo. Stemming from the “resistance to majority culture and affirmation of cultural values but also from women’s restrictions with the culture”(Gonzalez, 94). Domesticana places emphasis on short-lived site-specific works innovating traditional works like memorials, capilla, and domestic memories, such as vanity dressers, bedroom altars and ofrendas, while reflecting the everyday moments of glamour and femininity.
From my own personal experience, I feel like I have experienced more rasquache sensibility than domesticana. Raised to always make the most out of our resources, my roommates and I took this mindset into the decorating of our apartment. In the beginning of our unfurnished apartment we walked around the neighborhood picking up furniture or plants people planned to throw away before their move. Once my roommates had 4 colors and one white paint so we made some art with an old canvas we found. Like most college students we keep our glass bottles and try to decorate the house with them. Old rags become rags to clean. Growing up I remember my dressing would rip and my mom would bring out her machine to sew up a new outfit. My pants would become shorts, and an old ripped jacket would be patched up and unique. When I think of rasquache, I think of being resourceful and making do with what you have to get the best result you want.
Hi Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting how you pointed out the examples of rasquachismo in your life. When you wrote about being a college student, it reminded me that finding new uses for things and being resourceful comes out of necessity. As a college student myself, and as someone who grew up with second-hand clothes or patched up clothes like you described, it is interesting to look back and realize that these practices were done out of need and a creative use of our resources.