Week 10 Reflection

 There isn't one particular reading, artist, or talk that was my favorite. Many of the topics we covered helped me find the language I've been looking for most of my life. The language to help have agency over my creative practice and the language to celebrate my experience as a Chicanx. 

Much of my work centers brown and black creative embodiment and the space between transformation and identity. English does not have a word for this space. Being given the word Nepantla has opened a new dimension. 

Rasquache is another term I did not know but is in full bloom in my life and family home. It describes my grandpa's attitude toward objects and his love of going to and selling at the swap-meet. He definitely had a working class sensibility and aesthetic. 

One of the most important essay's was Border Arte by Gloria Anzaldúa. I thoroughly enjoy the way she writes. She glides through information and the personal smoothly. I know her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza is highly regarded. I can't wait to read it.

This is my first Chicanx class I've taken. I did not have access to Chicanx courses growing up on the East coast or in undergrad. I've also never had BIPOC instructors/professors till attending UCLA. I can see how this has deeply affected my education and self image. This is one of the reasons I decide to pursue my MFA and teach. 

Week 9 Deus ex Machina, Marion C. Martinez

 I've never heard of Marion C. Martinez and was interested in Catherine S. Ramírez's essay Deus ex Machina. Martinez uses scrapped computer parts to build catholic and native iconography. Martinez grew up in New Mexico and has debunked the Department of Tourism's slogan of "the spicy mix the is New Mexico." The slogan and tourism, "...have emphasized a "Spanish" [identity] rural and of the past."(151)

By making traditional retablos and saints using present day technology Martinez pulls the past into the present day. She also, "underscores New Mexico's history as a dumping ground for the remnants of twentieth-century technology." (147)

The black and white image in the essay does not do the work justice. I love the push and pull of folkish and circuit boards and the colors that were chosen. My favorite are her indigenous pieces. Living in Boyle Heights I always see the virgin made out of various found object, clocks, hologram pendents and the list can go on. I feel the image to the right is a time machine. We know the ancient indigenous peoples built observatories and had a connection with space. This work recognizes this ancient knowledge with contemporary digital components paving a way to the future. 

 

Week 6 Rasquachismo

 

Rasquachismo can be many things a persons attitude, how one uses the objects around them, or a style of art. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto defines rasquachismo as "a bawdy, spunky consciousness seeking to subvert and turn ruling paradigms upside down...a working class sensibility...brash and hybrid." 

This definition describes my home and roommates perfectly. We all come from a working class background and love to bring home objects we've found or repurpose objects that we already have. The dining room is a great example. I found a gallon of pepto bismol pink paint in my garage. When the first stay at home order came I decided I needed a splash wall and painted the largest wall in my dining room this ghastly pink.  Something was missing  so I hang a picture of the last supper I found years ago in someone's trash. I finally found the perfect spot for it above our dining table.  My roommate's mother was throwing out the prints of the virgin so she brought them home to add to the catholic motif that we grew up with but as adults shy away from in our spiritual lives. 

Lastly the most rasquache thing in the house is the cat. Her name is Piper though I call her Chaka after the Land of the Lost character, because she's like a little human but all animal. As I was taking the photo of the wall she jumped up on the table, perfectly in the middle of the frame. She started chewing on the plants when I didn't pay attention to her she. Piper consistently takes my seat and will lay on my jacket for hours. Secretly I love her attitude. She is obnoxious and will go out of her way to mess with you. She is also loving and will sleep by your side all night. She portrays that push and pull of making you crazy and loving her. 

Week 8 Border Arte

 

To be honest I'm not sure where to begin. I've been making art for most of my life and have always struggled to find a language that helps explain the work, my creative process but mostly myself. I've talk about the in between and moving through dimensions as an artist and spiritual person with friends, in artist statements, statements of purpose, the list can go on. Now I have a word "Nepantla"! How beautiful it sounds in my mouth. I feel it's vibration, leading me to another layer of consciousness and another layer of understanding. 

I have highlighted so many lines in Border Arte. Some of my favorite statements: 

"Nepantla...an in-between state, that uncertain terrain one crosses when moving from one place to another, when changing from one class, race, or sexual position to another, when traveling from present identity into a new identity." (344)

"Each artist locates her/himself in this border "lugar," and tears apart and rebuilds the "place" itself." (342)

"If one looks beyond the obvious, one sees a connection to the spirit world, to the underworld, and to other realities."(344)

Border Arte made me think about the last time I was in Tejuana. It was the last leg of a two month trip through the Americás. I hadn't been to TJ since I was a kid with my family. It felt like the city was ready to explode. The caravan of migrants were being moved to a larger area, many Haitians had started their own businesses and communities, all the tourists trying to haggle and me.

 

  

Extra Credit Art of The State Pocha Peña & Victor Payan

Pocha Peña and Victor Payan presentation a the Art of The State Symposium was informational. I immediately could see their playfulness and humor. I've heard the term Poncha/o before and figure is was another term for Chicana/o. After looking it up I see how second or third generation Mexican Americans would identify with this term. Wikipedia it states, "[the type of] Spanish spoken by a Pocho...is Spanglish." They also identify as social misfits and mutants. This makes me think they have one foot in Mexican culture, one foot in the states and their head in their own world.Their art practice continues the tradition of being political and community oriented. Their humor and style add another layer to Chicanx/Latinx identity and pantheon of artist. 

My favorite part was Pocha Peña talking about her grandparents in the Andes and the trade/barter system they took part of instead of the dollar economy and how that inspired her to become a mutant and not allow the outside world to cloud her vision. Most inspirational was Peña saying how a system only recognizes another system. It does not recognize the individual. We can only engage with it together as a people. Peña also mentions seeking out our elders and generational wisdom so we do not keep repeating the past. I believe as a community we are stronger and help each other navigate challenges, especially when we engage with our elders. 

Post5 Virgin de Guadalupe

 

2014 Feast Day of the Virgin de Guadalupe

  Growing up in East LA I've seen the image of the   Virgin de Guadalupe countless time. She is   everywhere, painted on corner stores, alters to her   outside homes and magnets on refrigerators to name a   few places.  When I was  eight years old my Nana   would tell me the story of  the Virgin appearing to   Juan Diego. This was my bed time story and my   favorite. I would ask for this story every night. I don't   remember what drew me to this retelling of the   apparition of the virgin. As an adult I like the idea of a   miracle and that something could take you out of   everyday life. I also remember my uncles talking about   how the OG's would never deface the Virgin's image. To this day whenever I drive around the neighborhood I look to see if anyone has written or marked the Virgin's face. I never have. I find it interesting that people hold the mother figure so holy but how do the same people treat the women in their lives? How do they treat women in general?

Week 4

 

The Smithsonian's !Printing The Revolution! exhibition preview was stirring. Many of the topics we've read about and  discussed in class were brought up by the artists. 

Juan Fuentes talked about being inspired from the Vietnamese saying, "One struggle many fronts," which strengthened his commitment to communities of color throughout the world through art. How taking his first class with a Chicano instructor, Rupert Garcia, and an apprenticeship with Malaquias Montoya affected his education and teaching career. Access to education and mentorship are the tools Sybil Venegas wrote about in Conditions For Producing Chicana Art.

My favorite speaker was Ester Hernandez, especially when she spoke of growing up in El Movimiento, her family supporting her art and making stencils out of grape leaves as a child. Hernandez's work on the Virgin de Guadalupe and Chicana identity adds to the layers of diversity to the Chicanx lexicon. The joy in her voice when mentioning the LGBTQ+ community being visible and making work and her closing statement, "We're all the face of El Movimiento," is the perfect description for the exhibit and continuing tradition of social justice and identity in Chicanx art.

Week 2

While reading, Chicanx Graphics In The Digital Age, I see that various digital mediums be it electronic billboards, websites or prints that are interactive through augmented reality apps are being used by Chicanx artists much like traditional printmaking was used during the Chicano Movement as, "cries of disruptions, empowerment and resistance." (Zapata, 131) I recently attended the Califas Artists panel as apart of the "Change=Action/Time: Generational Activism in Chicanx and Latinx Art" visual symposium and many of  the artist spoke about community and feeling apart of through nonprofit art centers, such as Self-Help Graphics and gathering locals to help paint murals in their neighborhoods. Do you think artist working in the digital field lose out on opportunities to collaborate with local members of communities? Are mediums like augmented reality screen prints, such as Zeke Peña's A Nomad In Love keep art non accessible to marginalized communities?

The digital realm continues to help express the complexities of Chicanx culture and identity. Many artists are able to have their work seen throughout the world via social media. Historically BIPOC artist have not had as much access showing in galleries. Lalo Alcaraz, an artist from Los Angeles, CA, created his I stand with Emma poster which supported a community of students who survived a school shooting in Parkland, FL, was reposted throughout Facebook and Instagram. Many of the social media posts happen in real time helping to bringing communities together faster than a traditional printed poster would make the rounds. Favianna Rodriquez's website utilizes digital space to make social artwork such as how to videos, downloadable posters, defund the police coloring pages and art kits accessible free of charge to anyone with a printer. When considering traditional printmaking and digital platforms there's no need for an either-or mentality. Digital works continue to further the social justice movement while adding to multiple layers to the the Chicanx dialog.

  

Ayón, Belkis and Zamora, Joan

 

I will be presenting the work of Belkis Ayón.  She was a printmaker from Cuba. Her work is striking and deals with a type of world many are afraid to step into. I'm looking forward to learning more about her and her art. 

Wikipedia

Joan Zamora, an artist born in Juanacatlan Mexico moved to Los Angeles at the age of five with her family. Zamora is mostly known for her mixed media pieces and screen printing.

Joan graduated from San Francisco State University in 2006, with a BA.

Zamora was a member of the O.V.A.S. (Overthrowing Vendidxs, Authority & the State) also known as the Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade. A group of BIPOC women formed to support sisterhood and address various issues effecting women of color. Joam was featured in the documentary Ovarian Psycos. She currently is a member of the Ni Santas a womxn art collective. Whose vision is to nourish women of color to reclaim spaces and resources.  

Joan's work explores the complicated layer of femininity through landscapes and portraiture. Many of the women in her work hold a close resemblance to Zamora herself. Leading the viewer to believe she is consistently investigating her own personhood. She has been a part of live screen printing at CAAM, Skirball, and The Getty. Joan has been asked to build an alter for Grand Park's Noche de Ofrienda, a Day of the Dead celebration for the last five years. 

Cruz, Amina (Amina)

 

Hey everyone. My name is Amina Cruz and my pronouns are she/her/hers/they. I was born in Los Angeles and spent my teen years in Tampa, FL. It was quite a cultural shock. Currently I'm a first-year graduate student in the MFA program. My main tool of investigation is photography. I use both analog and digital formats, though my preference is film. Spending time developing my negs and printing in the darkroom are an important part of my process. I also enjoy ceramics and performance. My current work centers QTBIPOC punk creative embodiment and identity. I see this investigation taking on a hemispheric approach, exploring chosen family, visual representation and building a transnational community of queer/trans punks, throughout the Américas and Caribbean. I'm interested in learning about the Chicana aesthetic in an academic setting and discussing Chicanx/Latinx artists creative processes. I'm confident this course will also assist me in my own exploration of identity and art practice.

Looking over this week's reading a few topics stood out to me. One of the opening quotes by Luis Valdez, "subject to no other critics except the pueblo itself," was engrossing. I love the thought of only my community, who has a deep understanding of queer brownness as the only ones who can truly critique the work. All other will fall short grasping subtle layers of the pieces. Also identifying as Chicano, "functions as both personal affirmation and a collective call to action," speaks to how powerful self-identifying is to build a movement. The various graphic works made during the late 60s and 70s assisted i connecting that energy to different communities, affirmed Chicano(a) identity and movement.