Beemer Bri, Week 9

 

 The Chicana artist that I found to be the most interesting this week is Martha Ramirez-Oropeza. She works as a muralist, a theater performer, and also a professor of Nahuatl philosophy and history. She was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and traveled back and forth between the United States and Mexico since. Her parents were farm-workers so they needed to move around often to find work. Later, Ramirez-Oropeza went to a university in Mexico to become a student under the famous muralist David Siqueiros. There, she became fascinated by indigenous history and iconography so she later co-founded the Nahuatl University in Ocotepec, Morelos, Mexico.

 

Her use of a variety of vibrant colors and soft brush style create very beautiful images with deep connections to Nahuatl mythology and iconography. Particularly what I find fascinating is the juxtaposition of human (indigenous it looks like) figures and more fluid, surreal imagery of animals, smoke, and mythical creatures. In many of the works there seems to be an almost fusion of the animal and human figures in the painting likely to portray the Nahuatl beliefs about a particular animal or about their relationship with nature in general. Among the animals depicted the most common appear to be those with wings like various species of birds and butterflies. I’d be interested to know what the Nahuatl viewpoint is on winged creatures and how that may have influenced Martha Ramirez-Oropeza’s works of art. Many of the images also display some form of smoke which has been stylized rather than looking realistic. While not abandoning realism, the composition of certain elements and the soft, blended brush strokes create a distinct look for Ramirez-Oropeza’s works of art. Her inspiration for her painting comes from reading ancient Nahuatl writing known as codices and stories of village oral tradition that she has heard.