Arroyo, Cristina (Week 9 Presentations)

Similar to last week, I was completely impressed with the artists presented by my classmates. Prior to enrolling in this class, I was unfamiliar with the wide variety of artists within the Chicanx community. When I thought of Mexican/Chicanx artists I typically thought of the same handful of artists that we always learn and hear about. I appreciate the efforts of this class in highlighting the work of these artists in my community that I probably would have never heard about. 

The artist that I would like to highlight this week is Martha Ramirez-Oropeza. I was fortunate enough to take 2 of her classes here at UCLA last year and I always admired her work. She occasionally mentioned it in class, but I don't think I ever put it into perspective how talented she is. After seeing the presentation on her work, I did my own brief research and looked into some of her other paintings/murals. I was completely amazed by her attention to detail and specifically how she honors indigenous communities. The way she creates scenes and highlights the culture in her work reminded me of the knowledge she shared with us during class about the richness of the culture in indigenous communities. I believe this is also why I appreciate her art a bit more, because I am aware of her deep understanding and appreciation for the communities. She does not only use them as inspiration, but makes efforts to learn from them and to spread that information with students on campus. The use of golden tones and the contrast with darker shades and shadows is seen as a recurring theme in her work. As the audience I appreciate the warmth in the images and how there’s always something new to focus on and to analyze.