Taking this course made me realize the different Chicana artists forgotten in the Chicano/a art movement.
The only Chicana artists I knew were Frida Khalo and Judithe Hernandez. The dominant artist in the
movement is Los Four while Judithe was later integrated into the group. An artist I learned in this course is
Celina Hinojosa who was presented by Marziyah Qureshi. Seeing this artist was eye-opening since I have seen
the art but never the artist. Hinojosa was born in South Texas and currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. She has been
painting since 1974. She started as a pianist and transitioned into painting after gaining inspiration from daily life.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1980 and MFA in 1995. It was not until 1996 that she decided to become a serious
artist. In addition to being a serious painter, she owns her own studio in San Antonio, Texas. Her different paintings
are influenced not only by ordinary life but community as well.
One of the paintings was of a woman cooking in the kitchen. Her facial expression was serious and emotionless.
Her nonemotions remind me of my mom cooking in the kitchen with a stoic expression. She was also fully clothed
with a “mantel” around her waist. The mantel signifies a cultural outfit for cooking in the kitchen. Another painting
was showing women in the cactuses. They reminded me of field workers working in harsh conditions such as the
heat. The women’s hairstyle is braided or otherwise known as “trinsas”. This shows a cultural reference to Latina
women often using this hairstyle. The final painting I would like to discuss shows a woman smoking. The setting is
laidback while she is taking her time to relax. Her body shows a lot of tattoos and makes a statement that smoking is
not only for men. Her appearance also goes against skinny girls being the only ones to relax when smoking. The
colors in the painting are seen in our culture through attire such as the color green.
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