Week 10 - Reflection

To me, this class taught me about how I perceive artists and how I can better understand their work and their passions. My favorite part was the artist presentations by far. I really enjoyed learning about so many artists, many of which I had not heard of. I really enjoyed listening to how each artist inspired that student and why their work is important to the Latina community. I think in many classes we have to sit for 10 weeks and listen to what a professor is saying or have to do presentations on topics and things we are not really interested in. However, I liked that we got present on a person that we actually like and want people to know about, at least that is how it was for me. I still suck at drawing but I do think the small workshops at the beginning of class helped me learn how to be more of artist even though I probably will never be able to draw more than a smiley face. We always learn about Zapata and Cesar Chavez and how much they fought for our people, however we hardly ever learn about artists and how their work though not a vocal or physical action could be just as powerful. The artists we learned about put themselves on the line to send a message and contribute to our daily fight for our humanity and for that I have so much admiration. Even if artists only draw because they like it, I admire how these artists have come about their passion and use it change lives.

Presentation: Patssi Valdez

The presentation that stood out to me was the one about Patssi Valdez. The bright and vibrant colors and relatable objects and images drew me to her work. I liked the fact she is an LA local as well because I feel that she was able to draw not just from her experiences but from experiences from her community as well especially one as diverse and Latino populated like LA. As stated in the presentation, she began her career in the 80’s during the Chicano Movement and made her work very visual and catching to the eye so as to relay her message. The picture that I chose was Somber Clouds (2015) because it reminds me of the typical paintings that you see in a Latino household. I remember my mother putting random paintings up in the house that were paintings of a living room, or a house with a yard, with bright and bright colors just to make our house feel more like home. I remember most of my friends who are Latino have these random paintings as well in their homes too and all the mothers would say they bought just because it “looked nice.” The colorful living room setting with the overlook of the sea. The hardwood floors. It looks like something my mother would pick up at a store and think it would be a perfect addition to our home. It is that sentiment that Patssi Valdez created that made me drawn to her work and admire for her for being able to bring such melancholy  through a painting.

Carmen Lomas Garza: Sandia

For this week’s post, I chose another one of Carmen Lomas Garza’s painting just because she has been one of my favorite artists out of all the artists we have looked at. In her work Sandia/Watermelon (1986), she depicts a typical Latino Family gathering outside eating watermelon.  To most people, this looks like just an average painting that can be in a children’s book about a wonderful family. However, to most Latino students, it brings back memories of our families doing the same thing. To us, family is one of biggest and most important aspects of our lives and our biggest support system. Although Garza’s work seems simple, to me, it reminds me of what is most important; my family. It reminds me of all the small moments I have had with my family from something small like watching a movie together to something bigger like a birthday or Quince. It shows that despite our past and current struggles that family will always be here for us. The simple act of sharing a watermelon with each other shows that even when ICE is trying to tear us apart, schools trying to keep us from speaking our native tongue in school, work paying us below minimum wage because of our status; despite everything thrown at us, we can celebrate the smallest of luxuries like a watermelon.

Carmen Lomas Garza

Barbacoa para Cumpleaños (1993)

I chose this painting from Carmen Lomas Garza because it immediately brought me back to all the gatherings and parties with my family. I had not heard about her children books until I saw that other students had read about her early in their childhood. I felt like maybe I had seen a few of her pieces before but I have never paid attention to the artists, unfortunately. What I like, well love, is all the memories connect this painting. All of my friends know that parties with my family are always the best because we like to go all out for everything. Whether it was a birthday or just a really nice day outside, we always had a reason to celebrate. I think that it what this painting made me think about. That our beautiful culture treats life like a celebration. Even with the current political climate, despite our troubled history and struggles, we always find the slightest reason to celebrate and come together. It always bothered me that other people would complain to me about how my family was constantly throwing parties as if seeing and being with my family is such a bad thing. The childish, happy, and nostalgic-vibe the painting gave off I think allows us to reflect on the times we were all together with our loved ones free of worry and just enjoying ourselves.

Cecilia Alvarez Munoz

In the book Cecilia Alvarez Munoz by Robert Tejeda, he goes in-depth on the various art pieces Munoz did throughout her time. He offers a very detailed history and description of each of the pieces shown. The image I chose was Postales y Sin Remedio (1988). My personal interpretation of it was that it was an immigrant warrior sitting valiantly on his horse with sword in hand looking so brave that even the cat on the side was scared. I assumed he was an immigrant because of the butterfly on the side of the image which has symbolized migration. To me Munoz was trying to show that even though these people hold ordinary jobs like a gardener, they are warriors because they their very presence here in the states is s fight; a fight to stay, to live, and to be happy. However, my interpretation was completely different from what Munoz was really trying to show. She was portraying the “confusion of bilingual realism” meaning how we as people feel is “home” versus how a white person would think of it and the barriers created because of our differences in language, skin color, and culture. For example, the street had the correct spelling of “El Paso” on one sign but then had an incorrect spelling “Il Peso” showing the disconnect and failure to integrate Mexican and U.S culture. Although my interpretation was wrong compared to what Munoz was conveying, I appreciate that about her artwork. That we as viewers are able to come up with our own story and create our own personal connections to it.

CARA Exhibit, Gaspar de Alba

After reading Chaper 3 of "out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask: The Mirror of Malinchismo” by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, I realized how much work there still is to be done in the world of the arts in order to be more inclusive. I remembered from earlier Chicano classes that even though the Chicano movement was glorified to being the start of a revolution for Latinos here in the U.S., it still lacked the other half of its people; women.  I remember being shocked and saddened by this truth so now when I see, hear, or read about movements or important times in history like CARA, I know that no matter how progressive those people think they were, someone is always left out. Seeing that there were almost no women in the exhibit, it is clear that we as a society and community of color have some long ways to go. Hearing about how professor Gaspar de Alba fought to claim her rightful spot in the world of the arts was inspiring yet frightening at the same time. On one side it gave me hope that we can advance and be more inclusive to everyone. However, on the other hand I cannot help but think how much more fighting do we have to do to just be able to live our live? It is 2018 and some people still refuse to believe that we are an unjust society. In an area so competitive ad ignorant of women like the arts, I admire their work and bravery to express their opinions through their art work. I also greatly admire those who express their activism and the destruction of oppressive structures because like how professor received death threats and riots about her work, I am sure many other women artists experience the same as well.

Debra Blake - Sexuality and Gender

The very first quote that stood out to me was in Debra Blake’s introduction about, “the right of every Chicana and Mexicana to define herself and ‘over herself as both female and mestiza’” (pg. 1). I think this statement encompasses what her entire work is about. That despite the societal constraints placed against Latina women, we have the right to be and do as we please unapologetically. I think it has even a greater impact being on the first page because it is what the reader will have instinctively running through the back of their mind as they read on. I know as I continued to read on. This was the one thing I kept reflecting back on as I was reading. That each one of us women has the right and power to choose who we want to be and I think that is the most powerful thing we can do.

Presentation: Kim Bjanes

Because I am not so artistically inclined, I do not know many artists especially artists of color. That being said. I came across Latina/ Chicana artist Kim Bjanes while scrolling through Instagram one day and felt an automatic connection to her and her work. I have had very few experiences where I see myself being represented in public and she made me feel like I had a voice and that there other women of color like me. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, specifically North Hollywood. She uses her personal experiences being a women and color and other marginalized communities. While her focus is her poetry, she incorporates her own artwork to make her poetry more visual and has created her own clothing line with phrases that I grew up and have helped me push forward in life. She incorporates the nature she sees and her own inspiration and puts them in her work. This picture I took off her Instagram page and you can see while the main focus is her words, she uses herself very often as a visual as well as her own artwork to make her work come alive. I am looking forward to focusing on her work and how she helped and inspired young women of color.

Perez, Beatriz (Beatriz)

Hello to all my classmates! My name is Beatriz Perez and my preferred pronouns are she/her. I am a 4th year Chicano/a Studies major and Public Policy minor. I was born in Virginia, traveled with my parents for a few years before settling down in Riverside which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from LA (without traffic). I became interested in Chicano studies when I took 10A and loved how this class was about my struggles and I found myself relating to a lot of the material taught in that class. Since I am not really very "artsy" I figured this would be an excellent class to open my mind to the world of the arts especially to Chicano/a artists.

Going to the readings assigned for class, I found them very relatable to the exercise we did in class. In my very short list of artists, I realized I could only name a few very well known white male artist and only had one female artist, Frida Kahlo, which in the end was a tentative choice for being called a chicana artist. When we first had started the exercise, I noticed that right off the bat, the list of male artists was growing rapidly while the female list was very short. Making that list in class and then reflecting on it with the readings made me physically see the disproportion between male and female artists which is really sad. It is sad that I can name the few very well know male artists like Van Gogh and Picasso but could not do the same for my own people. It shows me the sad reality that artists of color do not get the recognition they deserve through lack of opportunities and c olor discrimination in their area of work. Not only does being an artist of color have its own obstacles but it is even harder as  FEMALE artist of color to gain any kind of recognition in the arts. If your work is not being in a museum, or being sold for thousands in prestigious auctions, chances are that it will be very difficult to have some recognition to your name. What makes me proud to be a female of color is that despite those odds, women who look just like me and have lived through what we live through fighting against the bars set upon us and breaking through those barriers in order to show the world what we have done and give us the voice that we need and deserve.