WEEK 10 Reflection

Being that this is my second time taking an art class taught by Professor Gaspar de Alba, I really enjoyed it as much as the first one. Many classes are taught traditionally on campus, and this class being the way that it is, has really made me find my inner artist. Being able to draw in class and color and have my imagination run wild is what I really enjoyed. The presentations really opened my eyes to acknowledge that there are many Chicana artists and they each are unique and different from each other. The books were great and quick to read and provided a plentiful amount of information on the artist along with different pieces of artwork that they published. Working on the sketchbook in and out of the classroom really put my mind at ease, kind of like a stress reliever. Even though there was an assigned artwork that we needed to complete, it was left up to me as to how I wanted it to look like and what I want it to represent. This is my first time using an accordion type of sketchbook and finding it was very difficult, but I do like the style of it and it reminds me of when I owned an accordion, so I thought that was cool. Doing the weekly blog posts helped to summarize the assignments we had to do in class. The blog posts also allowed us to see the perspective of the other students in the class as well as what Chicana artist they chose to present and why they chose that artist along with the artworks they made. 

WEEK 8

The artist and presentation that I found interesting was the painter Camille Rose Garcia that was presented by Johanna Cotom. I liked Camille’s style because it was very different, unique and it includes the style of art that I like, dark colors and mythical creatures. With the paintings that Johanna presented, she described them as psychedelic with a style that is not normally seen that uses gothic dark colors. Being unique is a great way to stand out and show what your true artistic ability can hold. 

WEEK 7

The artist that I chose to present on was Chicana artist, muralist, printmaker, painter, activist, and educator, Juana Alicia. When I first saw her artwork it did not really catch my attention until I found her La Llorona’s Sacred Waters mural. At first glance this piece looked great and I personally like darker colors and more mythical paintings and this one hit home. It was difficult to find other murals from her that look like this one so I started to look for other themes. I found that one of her themes revolved around women and how they are vital in the many movements and social justice efforts throughout history. Three murals that I really liked including La Llorona’s Sacred Waters are Sanarte: Diversity’s Pathway and Maestra Peace - Collage. The first mural, La Llorona’s Sacred Waters, is about changing the narrative that La Llorona  was a monster and bad mother for killing her kids to challenge the patriarchy and saving her kids from the slavemaster. The second mural, Sanarte: Diversity’s Pathway, is four murals in one that depicts the different global health practices, social movements, and community engagements. The third mural is Maestra Peace - Collage, which is a mural that commemorates women and the contributions they have done in the world. I chose these murals because each of the three murals are different in the content that they have, but they each have women as the main focus showing how strong and involved they are with the social justice efforts and how they should not go unseen. 

WEEK 6 Stencil

It took awhile for me to think of what I wanted to do my stencil on. I wanted to ensure that what the stencil was, signified something important to me. What I ended up choosing was a drawing that I have had for about a decade now. The drawing is a skull smoking a blunt with a tophat. I chose this to be my stencil because the drawing was hand drawn by my uncle who passed away in 2007. Since I have had the drawing, over the course of the decade, the drawing began to erase so I had to retrace the lines to make them darker and to preserve the nature of the drawing. However, the paper is also very old and it has begun to deteriorate. There are cigarette burns in the paper as well and it is also water damaged so it is increasing the aging of the paper rather quickly now. Since I want to preserve this drawing, I am turning it into a stencil, so that it can be kept with me and I will not need to worry about it erasing or ripping. I will use this stencil as an image for the inside of my sketchbook because it will represent how much I do like to do art and how I will keep practicing to make my drawing skills better.

WEEK 5 CARMEN LOMAS GARZA

 

I chose to speak about this artwork, Felino's Breakdancer, because it brings vivid memories of my childhood. When my grandpa would have time, he would take the family to Santa Monica to walk through the Promenade. When we would walk, we would always see breakdancers literally dancing exactly the same way that they are depicted in this piece of art. The family at the right reminds me of how I would be that child with his grandparents watching these guys dancing. This artwork also depicts how latinos are always hustling, no matter the situation, they will always be doing something to make ends meet. That also resonates with me because my family as well as others have been hustling hard to ensure that they make ends meet, but that they can also provide for their families.

WEEK 4 Rasquachismo and Domesticana

Rasquachismo is used as something to describe an attitude, the attitude of the poor. Instead of sticking to this definition, Ybarra Frausto describes it as something that expresses the different movements that happen in day to day lives. Rasquachismo is something that conveys the attitudes and sentiments of the movements. Putting our heart on our sleeve and producing the hard work to get the job done every day. Mesa-Baines defines this term as producing something and making the most of it from nothing. This is the underdog mentality, being able to come on top with the little that is provided while giving our everything to ensure that it is the best work we do. This term does not only apply to Chicano/s, but to all minoritized communities, especially when there are other communities trying to oppress them and keep them on the dumps.

Domesticana is the Chicana version of rasquache, by repositioning Chicanas through the working of feminine spaces. Defying the cultural traditions and breaking the hierarchy through higher education and being able to move freely in an open society as Mesa-Baines states. Using domesticana, as a term, is to use it as a form of empowerment for Chicanas, since the word domestic is in it, the chicanas are defying what it signifies, which is something that is under control. As many artists before have used symbols or figures that represent misogyny or the subordination of women, this is one of those terms that debunk it. 

WEEK 3 Ramos Freddy

An image that I like that Yolanda Lopez created and stood out to me, was this image of an Aztec god. Lopez created this image as her version of an aztec god with crumbled immigration papers, signifying how indigenous communities are the rightful people of these lands and those who came from other countries are the illegal alien. She supports that claim by literally having, “Who’s the illegal alien, PILGRIM” in the image. By recognizing that this land belongs to the Aztecs, she is embracing her own natividad. This image to me plays on the “I want you” propaganda poster that gave Americans a sense of patriotism to join the war, instead this image gives indigenous communities who are associated with the Aztec empire the sense of pride of being indienous. I like this image because it demonstrates how indigneous folks have been affected by the colonizers and how the colonizers disregard immigration policies and laws because it “does not apply to them.”

WEEK 2 CARA ESSAY

The Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation (CARA) Exhibition was an opportunity for Chicanos and Chicanas to showcase their artwork, however, it delivered poorly in the representation of Chicana artworks. One thing that stuck out to me from the reading was how key factors that are usually paired with communities of color was not included in the exhibit. In the text it includes topics such as racism, violence and misogyny, how the exhibit also missed on portraying the different sides of men and women (145). 

The essay touches on how CARA missed the point on properly exhibiting feminist viewpoints, which could be because of how many women were really included. But one thing the essay does touch on is how traditional figures used to shame women are now being used to empower themselves. These figures transcend to Yolanda's depiction of La Virgen, that is shown in the essay, on how it is a form of ending the patriarchy. 

Can the depiction of, La Virgen, transcend into other communities that do not identify as Chicanas?

2020RamosFreddy

Hello everyone, my name is Freddy Ramos, my pronouns are he/him/his. I am currently a Fifth-year student majoring in Sociology and Chicano Studies. I am from South Central LA, and I am work as a Management Fellow at the UCLA Community Programs Office. My future plans after graduating consist of owning my own business as well as owning some property, and hopefully coming back to school to get my Masters.


I decided to take this class "Chicana Art & Artists" because I took a class with this professor before and I loved the idea of being able to draw, paint, color, and be able to do anything art related. I am also taking this class because it is a continuation of what I had previously learned but now there is an emphasize on Chicana Art and Artists, who are usually casted in the shadows. Being able to learn about these artists and gaining knowledge on their accomplishments and art while producing art myself is something that I really enjoy.