Week 10: Final Post

My first quarter at UCLA was a great experience for me. I was shocked when I found so many resources available for me in different fields. I took this class with no previous understanding of Chicana/o community. I felt that I needed to take this class because it is my responsibility to know as much as I can about people whom I have interaction with in Los Angeles. Although I am majoring in architecture, I want to grow as an artist. Therefore, I need to have a conscious mind about the arts. This class was amazing in this aspect because I was introduced to so many artists whose works inspired me socially and politically.    
Not only I was introduced to various art projects, but I also had the opportunity to practice it.  I enjoy the hand drawings the most out of all the projects I have done for my sketchbook because there is a great message behind it. It does not matter what I think I see; what I actually see matters. I continue practicing until I harmonize what I see and what my mind say I see. Then, I may be able to see the truth of anything that I look at.

Week 8: Carmen Lomas Garza

I chose Cama para Sueños because it is the only painting from Carmen Lomas Garza that I feel connected to. This connection comes from my childhood dreams and my recent experiences in life. 

 The importance of the painting is that it conveys multilayered meanings. Although Garza’s mother is preparing the bed for the night, she and her sister are reclining on the roof looking at the moon. Here, the night’s sky and its bright moon are symbols of infinite possibilities for their future. Not only I can see her memory in this painting, but hope for the future is also apparent. More importantly, the undercover message which Garza tries to bring across is that in order to reach our dreams we have to take a risk. The risks involved in this painting, which are climbing off the trees and lying on the sloped roof, make the sisters’ dreams of the future more powerful. 

 I remember my childhood when in my wildest dreams I wanted to pursue architecture in one of the best schools in the United States. Three years ago, I had the opportunity to come to this country, and I did not ignore it. However, I had to leave my past behind to make this bright future for myself. Now that I am studying at UCLA my dreams are bigger and wilder. I want to change the living conditions of the worlds’ poorest regions. Although there are risks and dangers in the paths we take towards our dreams, we should not sacrifice these dreams even if the chances of reaching them are very low.    

Letter to Melanie Cervantes

Dear Melanie Cervantes,

I am writing this letter to you because you are the only Chicana artist who was involved in my life. Essentially it feels like we know each other without knowing each other. Do you remember "The Green Wave" of 2009 in Iran? Of course, you do because you created a poster to show your solidarity with Iranian people. The poster was used in the peaceful demonstration of 2010 in Los Angeles. Never in my wildest thoughts did I imagine a Chicana artist created this poster.

Iranian poet Sa'adi, from the 13^th century, has a very famous poem, Bani Adam (The Children of Adam), which decorates the gate of the United Nations' building:

 

The sons of Adam are limbs of each other,

Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others,
You are unworthy to be called by the name of a Human.

We are living in an era that carries a fundamental paradox within itself. We can easily have access to the news about the world because of today’s technology; however, we choose to stay in our solitude. We do not get involved with the problems of other parts of the world as long as our lives are not entangled with those problems. All of us need to understand this concept truly that we are not separate individuals rather we are individuals with interconnected lives. It is good to know that you were with us in that journey, and I appreciate what you do for the social movement of other communities.

Best Regards,

Mahyar Naghshvar

Week 6: Response to Jaclyn Hernandez’s Post on Laura Aguilar

Hello Jaclyn!

I found your statement very accurate that finding of our own identity is an ultimate challenge in our lives, and Laura Aguilar has perfectly overcome this challenge. I am not sure if her photographs should be categorized as Chicana, “non-traditional,” or post-Chicana art; however her works carry strong messages which go beyond all physical borders.

 It is interesting to me that you chose Three Eagles Flying, over her other photographs with nature, as her best work. It definitely sends the message to all people whom had the same conflict, to feel being related to both cultures and simultaneously being trapped by them. In this piece, her legs are wrapped in the rope so she cannot move; her hand are wrapped so she is powerless to make a change; her face is covered so we cannot recognize her; and her breasts are exposed so we know that she is a woman. Therefore, Jaclyn you have a great observation of this image which indicates that her identity, body, and femininity are strongly entangled with both American and Mexican cultures.  

As you mentioned her face is covered in Three Eagles Flying, I just noticed that we cannot see her face in most of her photographs. Maybe through this ambiguity, she wants to encourage people with the same difficulties to love their true selves and follow her path.    

Week 5: Laura Aguilar

I am writing about Laura Aguilar. She communicates very strong messages through her photography. By capturing her naked self in the photographs, she was able to open herself up to the world around her. She is a Latina and lesbian, and she exhibit her body to show that it is important love your body for the sake Of mental health. As a result she may feel free, and in her series I feel that she gets united with the nature, her true self. She certainly is an example of strength and beauty among lesbian women and women of the color.

I believe that her works cannot be limited to one community or a group of people, there are aspects to her photographs which can be understood universally. Aguilar has profound concept about being touched by the nature. I think she finds her strength and beauty when she feels connected to the elements of nature such as soil, rocks, trees, and rivers. Hence, it does not matter how artists identify/ label themselves when their art works carry a universal message. Therefore, it is passable that a Chicana artist refers to her work as not Chicana art because there are no exact boundaries.    

  

Week 4: Presenter’s Artist: Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta

            In medieval ages, human body was defined as divine creation of God which can be described with sacred geometries. Since then artists became interested in discovering human body, and this became the subject of all kinds of art, such as paintings, sculptures, architecture. However, in modernism era, 19^th Century, after series of urban transformation, human body was considered as private and should be covered from the public. Now here we are in the 21^st century in which artists would do anything to get their point across, and the strongest form of art is the one that an artist presents his or her naked body in a designed scene.

            Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta is a Chicana artist who has no fear of expressing her feelings through presentation of her body. The moment that the visitors realize that the art is the live- naked body of the artist is very shocking. Tatiana truly showed how our surrounding forces can make us feel about ourselves, and these forces can gradually and painfully evaporate our lives. This reminded me of Museum of Man in San Diego in which a Native American artist, James Luna, presented his naked body as an artifact to show the social injustice in the Unite States.  Unfortunately the rest of Tatiana’s works in the presentation were very simple and lacked a sense of artistic representation.

Week 3: My Icon

Farvahar is best known by being the most important symbol of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of ancient Iran. This religious/cultural symbol represents the Iranian nation. Even though our country was conquered by Islamic religion, this icon is a reminder of true Iranian culture. The person inside the ring was believed to be the guardian angel. Starting from 20^th century, it has been promoted that anyone can become a guardian angel by advocating three principles, which are written on the wall: good thoughts (اندیشه نیک), good words (گفتار نیک) , and good deeds (کردار نیک).      

I chose this symbol because it is a reminder of my purpose in life, which is to live in such a way that my soul moves towards peace. After Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, the Islamic government banned appearance of this symbol in public places because it is provoking the life before the Islamic revolution. Since then, this symbol became a national icon among Iranian people, and it moved away from its religious origin. This icon has been used in many aspects, on posters, painted on the walls, tattooed on body, and in peaceful demonstrations against the Islamic government to show that people still believe in the good life before the revolution and how this unjust government violates their human rights.