Nolazco, Nallely - Week 10 Course Evaluation/Reflection

 At the start of the course, I expected this class to tell us about historical moments in the Chicano movement. While we did discuss some of the movements, what was amazing about this course was how we discussed Chicana artists in the movement. While male artists, did discuss topics such as the work ethics and policing of the Chicano community. In artwork, the Chicana was depicted as the loyal woman to the family and cause or she was the "bad whore" but what's amazing about Chicana artists is that instead of using the trope, they instead presented average Chicana woman in everyday life. Artists like Yolanda M. Lopez are perfect examples of this as she used herself in works like her self portrait of her as Guadalupe. By doing that, she rebelled against the ideas of what the ideal Chicana can be and instead showed how the average Chicana had mobility and not necessarily be tied down to the Mexican traditions as well as how the Chicana had the ability to organize herself when it came to things she believed in. Another thing that makes Chicana art great is also it's ability to cover other aspects of the Chicano struggle such as the inequalities Chicano's in the lgbt community have to face.

In regards to the Chicana Activist project, i'd say it was enjoyable. Seeing all these artists made me realize that you don't necessarily have to paint on a canvas or sculpt to be considered an artist. Seeing the presentations so far as well as reading articles for this class, showed me a different variety of art mediums used when it comes to making art. Another thing I also learned was the importance of how the artworks can be presented be it through an exhibition of posting it online for a virtual experience. For my activist project, I did it on Sofia Alexander and it was simply because I  saw she worked on anime and I also love anime. Researching her an looking at articles featuring her was fun because she was very down to earth about her anime project. The fact that she even got an anime produced with Mesoamerican history and culture is impressive considering the well established anime market. Also reading about her experiences outside of anime such as story board work and imagineering was interesting because I don't think i've ever heard of any Chicanos working in the animation industry because working in animation in general, it doesn't get a lot of recognition. What I loved the most learning about her was how she developed Onyx Equinox starting from a small comic strip and the research and inspiration she got from things she loves such as books and video games. To me it felt inspirational because it made me realize, that the animation industry is willing to show things outside anime tradition.

Week 9 - Carlino Jeaneen Presentation

 

The Presentation for the artist Jeaneen Carlino was interesting due to all the coincidences she had with the presenter. Jeaneen Carlino is a visual artist that is known for her murals, art prints, greeting cards, and logo designs. Some of the the equipment she uses for her art pieces are acrylic paints and charcoal. In the presentation, it was mentioned that Carlino lived in Whittier, CA and the art work she creates is a way of helping her when it comes to personal growth. When it comes to drawing woman in her art work, the presenter mentioned that Carlino bases these female figures based on women she knows or women she aspires to be. Her art work is very lovely but the one that got my attention was Carlino's 2007 piece called, "Rising like Corn" which she also happened to work with SPARC to sell this art piece. In this piece we see a woman with a sharp gaze and she's holding a stick. The artist is showing us how fearless this woman is and her stance represents her standing up for something she may not agree with. It's a message that she's trying to us the audience to do when we see things that we don't agree on. We see corn in the background and it could imply that this woman is of the working class and despite her feminine features, she's like most everyday Chicanas that had the capability to stick up for herself hence the words Uprise being written in the left corner of the art piece. What I was curious about was the use of a bandana to cover her face. It makes me think that by doing this, Carolina perhaps wanted her audience to insert themselves in this woman's position or maybe she wants to show how she was able to blend the culture of Chicano/a youth with an older audience and the possibility of seeing common ground.

Week 8- Sandoval, Kristy

For the presentation of artist Kristy Sandoval, she has been an active artist since 2008 but what's interesting about her is she didn't paint murals until 2013 due to a ban on painting murals. After the ban was lifted, she has painted over 50 murals. When it comes to education, she studied at the Art Academy in San Francisco. I wanted to discuss her mural "Decolonized" as it's such a bright painting. In the presentation, it was mentioned the Kristy Sandoval likes incorporating features of building into her works and this is displayed well with Kristy using the roof/tent as a skirt for the lady in her painting. She also used the barred window as a way of representing the cage that the lady holds and opens to set the butterflies and birds free. The presentations mentions that the lady sets the birds and butterflies free so they can show they are free and are able to migrate with no problems. The lady also has a tattoo on her arm that shows a moon goddess to represent Chicano culture. I liked this mural a lot due to it's use of colors and the pretty flowers. I noticed it had a humming bird in the picture and remember during one of our class lectures, the hummingbird could be used as a representation of rebirth and it being free could mean that it's been reborn and is free to do what it like just like the piece is called "Decolonized" because it's being set free and is able to be itself and move with no possible restrictions. While the artist does use cool tones such as the blues in the lady's hair and water, it overall is a painting with warm vibrant terms that give a feeling of hope.

Nolazco, Nallely (Week 7: Claudia, Zapata)

     Reading Claudia Zapata's article on digital media, helped me realize the importance it plays in sharing art as well as having a better understanding of how immersive art can be in a "cold" area of the era of computers. Chicanx art serves a purpose is which it can be used in activism to address the issues people rarely speak and is a way for people to organize themselves and be part of a social movement. What I find interesting about digital media in this article is how it discusses that it's not supposed to remove/replace traditional art/prints but instead serves as another way of spreading a message more broadly around peoples lives. An example of this is at the beginning of the article where Carole Wells mentions that you can't carry a pc around and it's why prints are still relevant when conveying a message. Digital media has also been seen as something that artists are able to adapt to and while their is skepticism, they see the practicality and are able to produce work a lot faster and efficiently such as using laser cut outs for the creation of "papel picado" instead of having to use layers of tissue paper and a cutting instrument that consume time. Instead artist are able to think a few steps ahead and save themselves a lot of time.

    Another thing that I really liked about the article was the mention of how the web doesn't necessarily have to be a cold place but instead with the use of digital art, we are able to connect with others and relate. Jacalyn Lopes Garcia's interactive website of "Glass House" is a perfect example where she shows her digital works of family photographs and gives it a "homey" vibe with the interactive aspect of the site as users are given a tour inside a pixelated house/rooms. In these rooms we see digital works of Garcia's memories and it helps us feel as if we know the artist herself and have a better idea of her motives as an artist. The web also serves as a way of creating a private and safe space for an unrepresented community such as the use of a blog that Julio Salgado made to represent a community of undocumented queer people. His additional use of art was able to reach a broader audience and together with people on the web, are able to discuss their stories and struggles. By doing this, we're able to see communities that may have been considered invisible to the public.

Nolazco , Nallely (Week 6)/ Xandra Ibarra

 Xandra Ibarra also known as La Chica Boom, is an Oakland bases artist the is known for her performances, videos, and sculptures. Her works focus on the abjection and joy of bodies while also focusing on the borders between proper and improper racialized, gendered, and queer subjects. The work i'd like to talk about is Ibarra's 2021 video, "Nothing Lower Than I" in which we see 3 effeminate zombies roaming around the Northern California coast. The video represents the bottomhood of these zombies showing that they are the ones being dominated and while it continues to happen, they still get up and go about their day as if searching for something else. This idea ties in with Ibarra's message of anti-rape as the zombies imply that they feel wrapped in the authority of their assaulter and are only meant to please them. Even after the assault happens, the zombie feels powerless because they imply they are a zero or known as being less than nothing and so the feelings they harbor, begin to numb them. These people are dehumanized and the world feels little remorse for them. Even if they claim to be dead, their still on the brink of life so no one can really say they are happy. Considering we see three zombies, it could imply that these were the victims of the same offender. Besides the message in the video, I really enjoyed the editing of the video as there's moment in where it feels as if your reading a comic book with these small panels and seeing the movement of the character in each panel. It felt immersive and hearing the words of the hurt, you get a narrative of the ugliness of the world and some of its people they fear. As far as questions go, I wanted to know how long does this video take to shoot? I also wanna know why is it that they chose a panel like narrative for this video?    

Nolazco, Nallely (Draft for Alexander, Sofia)

 Sofia Alexander (Born in Quintana Roo, Mexico) is a Mexican animator and voice actor known for being the executive producer and creator of the show Onyx Equinox. She has also known for working as a story board artist for shows such as Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, Infinity Train, and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. She was part of the animation team for The Powerpuff Girls reboot. She also worked as a concept artist for Disney Imagineering and their division of theme park design Alexander has also provided her voice for characters such as "Nelli, K'i'ik, and Meque" in Onyx Equinox.

Alexander was nominated at Animation Magazine's 2020 Hall of Fame Awards and won The New Voice of the Year Award for her work on Onyx Equinox.

Biography

Being born in Quintana Roo, Mexico, Sofia Alexander grew up around a lot of archeological sites such as temples and her grandfather being proud of their indigenous culture, saw it as something important to teach Alexander as he often told her stories and made sure she visited archeological sites such as the temple Uxmal in Mexico. While growing up in Mexico, Alexander had access to a lot of anime as it aired on television and watched shows such as Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, Mikan Enikki, Rurouni Kenshin, and Wolf's Rain. These show would become the influence of Sofia Alexander's art direction for the show Onyx Equinox as the anime aesthetic appealed to her and its unique use of continuous story telling and it's ability to develop its characters.

When she first created Onyx Equinox, it first started off as a series of comic strips for a college assignment that was inspired by the memories of her grandfather and indigenous history as well as culture. Having learned how much history was wiped away due to Spanish colonization, she wondered what life could have been like during that era and begun to work on her comic strips. However, at the time she started, the comic strips only featured Izel, Nelli, and Yaotl. When adding elements of fantasy into her story, she took inspiration from Lord of the Rings and it's use of mythology as well as her love for RPG video games such as The Legend of Zelda. As she researched monsters in mythology for her series she also took inspiration from the film Aliens as she felt like there had to be something similar in Mesoamerican mythology. By the time she was working on her senior project in collage, she finally completed the story and it's full cast of character. However, when she finished it and moved to Los Angeles, it took her about 11 years to pitch the series and her manager had suggested to pitch the idea to companies such as Frederator, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. When she did her pitch for the series at Crunchyroll, she met with Executive Producer in charge of original development, Marisa Balkus and was approved as Mesoamerican Mexican culture isn't often portrayed on television and would be interesting to portray in a anime story medium.

When it came to using Mesoamerican mythology, while Sofia Alexander had prior knowledge to the subjects, the same could not be said of the Onyx Equinox team and so with the consultation from Anthropologist and Archeologist Dr. Kirby Farrah, they were able to learn and identify concepts in Mesoamerican history and culture. Alexander also received help from National Institute of Anthropology and History(INAH) to cover things the team had yet to discover of Mesoamerica Mexico such as blueprints of cities that the team visited and rebuilt the designs for the show. Alexander also put emphasis on the use of color in her show as colors such as pink and turquois represented historical symbolism in Mesoamerica Mexico. 

On the Onyx Equinox team, she had the chance to be mentored by Japanese Animator Kumi Tomita who also served as supervising director. Tomita guided Alexander in the steps of being a show leader and Alexander had to focus on the characters and their development through the whole series.

With the first season of Onyx Equinox wrapped up, Sofia Alexander has announced that she'll be working with Marvel Studios on an unspecified project. Speculation has been made considering her background in animation and as of now, there's guesses she could be working in the Marvels What If...?

Resume

Disney(2021)

• Disney Imagineering(Worked on the concept designs for a part in The Pirates of Caribbean ride as well as designing Redd's costume)

• Marvel Studio(Animator)

Cartoon Network(2016-2017)

• Infinity train(Storyboard artist)
• Powerpuff Girls reboot(Animator)

Hasbro(2017-2018)

• Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters(Storyboard artist)

Nickelodeon(2019)

• Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus(Storyboard artist)

Crunchyroll (2020)

• Onyx Equinox (Executive producer, creator, and voice actor)

Artwork

Sofia Alexander is often drawn to the Anime style as it influenced the way her show Onyx Equinox presents itself. 

References

1."ENTREVISTA: Sofía Alexander comparte los secretos de Onyx Equinox". Cine PREMIERE (in Spanish). 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2021-10-19.

2.Zahed, Ramin (2020-12-07). "Watch the Animation Magazine 2020 Hall of Fame Awards". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2021-10-18.

3."Onyx Equinox: Interview with creator Sofia Alexander". SciFiNow. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2021-10-19.

4.Hang with Sofia Alexander -Creator Of Onyx Equinox - on Twitch!, retrieved 2021-10-19

5.Studios", RorMachine | 9/14/2021 Filed Under: "Marvel (2021-09-14). "Marvel Studios Has Enlisted ONYX EQUINOX Creator Sofia Alexander For A Mysterious New Project". Comic Book Movie. Retrieved 2021-10-19.

6."Onyx Equinox Creator Joins Marvel Studios for Mystery Project". CBR. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-10-19.

Nolazco, Nallely (Week 5)

 When thinking about some of Carmen Lomas Garza's artwork, I didn't imagine i'd finally get to know the artist behind the artwork I used to see growing up as a kid. As a child growing up in a working class family, my family didn't exactly have a lot of time to teach me how to properly speak and read in Spanish. However, if there's one thing I vividly remember that encouraged me to try to read in Spanish was this one book with a collection of Spanish stories and Garza's artwork was featured in "A Family Series". The art is so distinct that when I saw "La Feria en Reynosa", I couldn't help but feel nostalgic over the piece as it was one of my favorite pictures in these small stories! Now that I know this piece was based off a fair Garza went to with friends as a child, what I love about about this piece specifically is how it's able to depict the everyday life of a Mexican people in a warm manner. While it's technically a blend of Mexican and Mexican Americans enjoying the fair, the ambience is very much the same as everyone is enjoying themselves be it through talking, the children playing, and people eating together. While visually seeing this piece, I can't help but feel as if i'm hearing the fair itself and the music in the background. Such events are what bring people and families together and oddly enough, it's it's kind of what also brought my family together because they themselves were drawn to the art and considering the story had both English and Spanish, we helped one another read through the small passages and bonded over it!

Week 4 Rasquachismo

 

Before I go into the definition of Rasquachismo, let me tell you what I know about the term Rasquachi, in general. Rasquachi became a popular character archetype seen on tv and in theater. These Rasquachi characters were known as the underdog characters who may not have necessarily had a higher level of education and are of the working class. Despite living in the barrio, they had what was called “street smarts” and were always witty characters. They often outwitted their Patroncito(boss) when it came to the exploitation of work. Though one of the things that make the Rasquachi a significant character was their ability to make do with their resources and the knowledge they have.

Now going back to Rasquachismo, it has a similar idea in that it’s an underdog aesthetic. Even if you come from lower class and not have every resource in the world that you have, with the things you do have, it’s something you can work with to produce something significant. A perfect example of how the aesthetic of Rasquachismo being applied to is through the use of art and clothes. Reading Davalos’ book on Yolanda Lopez, you see Lopez’s mother copying patterns from designers and how she used inexpensive fabric to make elaborate costumes. This idea of Rasquachismo also applies to Yolanda Lopez’s art as she finds images of events happening around her time or uses the faces of people from articles of photos she has and makes them into a collage to form a deeper message in her work. Each image she uses carefully and with purpose as the context of the images always matter to her when creating a new piece.

Nallely Nolazco (Alexander, Sofia Abstract)

 https://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/onyx-equinox-interview-with-creator-sofia-alexander/

In this interview with SciFiNow from 2020, we look at Sofia Alexander's inspiration behind the creation of her show Onyx Equinox. Sofia discusses how her indigenous heritage as well as her love for fantasy stories such as "Lord of the Rings" helped shaped the universe she created. She also talks about the the art direction for Onyx Equinox as anime was a part of her childhood growing up in Mexico and how she was drawn by the aesthetic and relatability. The interview also talks about the research she's done in regards to Mesoamerican stories and myths as it plays a big part in the story she's built.

https://www.cinepremiere.com.mx/sofia-alexander-onyx-equinox-entrevista.html

In this interview with Cine Premiere from 2020, we not only get information on some of her previous works as a storyboard art in The Powerpuff Girls reboot, Sofia Alexander goes into detail how her show Onyx Equinox first started as a small project in her early collage years but also how she pitched the idea to Crunchyroll Originals. Having the influence of Mexico Mesoamerican mythology in shaping the story, she also goes into detail about the amount of time she used researching in Mesoamerican mythology with the help of anthropologists and INAH(Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia). She also talks about the people she worked with such as Kumi Tomita and Alejandro Vargas Lugo in bringing her creation to life.

Nolazco, Nallely (Week 3)

 

When it comes to experiences, I’ve had with the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe, I can only recall the times I along with a few of my family members, participating in the Posadas. We weren’t a religious family to begin with but something about the festivals always felt warm and comforting. As a child, you could say I saw her as a symbol of unification. I can’t say much about it either as it wasn’t an image I saw in my daily life and when I did see her image, it was usually around the holidays. I didn’t know what she represented other than she was the mother of Christ and her image was on a lot of candles. Now as an adult, I see her as a symbol of rebellion and empowerment for her image represents the likeness of the brown skinned Mexican who refuses to assimilate to their conqueror’s culture. However, I’ve also heard that she can represent the ideal image of what a woman should be which is dressing modestly, having delicate feminine features, and overall have this motherly aura. Though I can’t say I agree with that statement. To me I also just see her as a work of art as she’s often featured in murals and other art mediums. The readings from week two also made me realize the impact she has over Chicanas as they often view her as a mother who is looking out for them in all aspects of life such as sexuality and having to deal with family. In order for Chicana’s to convey their message when it comes to the Chicana movement and some of the struggles they face, they use the Virgen as a gateway to the realm that not everyone is able to see. She serves as a tool of empowerment.

Alexander, Sofia

 2. Roads, Christy

3. Alicia, Juana

Nolazco, Nallely(Nallely)

   Hello, My name is Nallely Nolazco and I go by she/her pronouns! I’m a transfer and my major is Anthropology though I’ve yet to figure out what area of anthropology I’d like to focus on. What made me interested in taking this course was a few quarters ago, I took a Chicano theater class and learned how El Teatro Campesino helped boost morale but also encouraged a lot of farmer workers organize and form union due to worker exploitation. As the years went by, more issues were brought up such as war and the policing of young Chicano men and woman. In that class, we only briefly spoke about artists, but it wasn’t enough for me to understand how it contributed to the cause. I’m hoping with this class, I not only learn more about how art pieces contributed to the Chicano civil rights movement, but also hoping to learn how artists used images in a creative way to spread a message.

   For the readings, I enjoyed how they all tied together with the idea of woman in the art scene. I never really thought about why there’ wasn’t any great female artists but then again, I don’t really think about art and artists in general. Nochlin’s article pretty much summed it up with higher class society focusing more on the apprenticeship of young men because either, their father was an artist and so the son must continue the legacy or being discovered while doing ordinary tasks. There was also the idea of being devoted to the craft that education itself became less important. Now going into Venegas’ article, this idea of accessibility of art is pushed even further because Venegas states that art isn’t necessarily free or cheap. However, with times changing, art is becoming more accessible to woman and is able to produce Chicana artists. What amazing about Chicana artists is their ability to cover topics that the Chicano movement barely talks about and how they’re able to strip that stereotype of a submissive woman by creating pieces of ordinary Chicana woman participating or being in the front lines of a strike/fight.