The artist that caught my eye for this week’s presentation was Paloma Montoya. I was surprised to learn that she grew up in South Gate. I felt as if learning about her hit home a bit because I grew up in South Gate and was familiar with the high school in which she grew up. I really loved her cartoon-like art pieces. I liked that Paloma used her art to reflect her actual life and she spilled her pain and hurt into her artwork. For instance, her art piece Seeing Red (2018) was one of her main pieces that intrigued me because I was shocked to learn that her inspiration was her dad.
The art piece reflected the anger and pain of her father. Paloma having hardships with depression and mental illness allowed me to open to my mind to how art is oftentimes used as an outlet for artist’s pain and rollercoaster lives. Montoya’s art gave me a nostalgic feeling because it reminded me of Chowder or Cat Dog, a 90’s feel. I also saw the trend of many artists of Hispanic background not being taken seriously for their art careers. This ideal in the Hispanic community has been seen throughout many of the artists that have been presented throughout the past weeks. Paloma Montoya’s rocky life tells a story of pain and suffering that I feel like many Hispanics growing up in poverty can relate to on many distinct levels. Without the support of her family Montoya pushed through the art industry, and after they saw her success, she was able to gain support from her family. When reading about this I was unsure on how to feel about her having to prove herself to her family because I feel like family should be supportive from the start.
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