Blog Post Week 10

As this quarter comes to an end and I reflect back on these ten weeks, I must acknowledge the fact that this class truly broadened my understanding of Chicana Art and of the artists themselves as well. At the start of the quarter we were asked to name as many artists as possible, needless to say I did not know any Chicana artists in particular at the time. Coming into this class I had previously taken an art class at my community college about Art History. It is fair to say that I was familiar with a few artists, however, none were Chicanas. Now at the end of the class it feels rewarding to be able to name a few Chicana artists and have some sort of familiarity with these artists and their artwork.

For instance, one of my favorite artists from this quarter was Carolyn Castaño, who I actually
presented on in class, because she displayed a sense of style in her artwork that truly intrigued me and evoked a different approach then many other artists. Carolyn Castaño's artwork demonstrated vibrant, effervescent colors that really made the image pop, while also incorporating geometric imagery as seen in her art piece Electric Yandara.

Throughout the quarter, I have also learned that many Chicana artists are political activists fighting for equality through their artwork. Their art is a platform for them to express their thoughts and justify their ideas. Many artists use their art as a voice to convey an idea or send a message. For example, feminist artist Favianna Rodriguez proclaims a strong message in her art piece Pussy Power.  Through art, I have learned that artists are then able to vocalize their ideals and push towards social and racial justice, similar to Favianna Rodriguez.

It goes without saying that this class clearly opened me up to a whole new world of art. Little did I know that there a plethora of Chicana artists striving to make a change through their art, while simultaneously creating intriguing art. I really enjoyed learning how many Chicana artists recreate stories in their art and interpret it in their own way. I came into this class not knowing one Chicana artist, but I can now fortunately name a few, such as: Esther Hernandez, Carmen Lomas Garza, Yolanda Lopez, Laura Alvarez, Graciela Iturbide, and of course our very own professor Alma Lopez.

Blog Post 8: Presentations

Among the plethora of art pieces presented this week, the art piece entitled Sacred Heart by Sonia Romero stood out to me the most due to its positive message that it conveyed. I really like the concept behind this particular image. I like how the artist decides to depict a "cholo", or gangster, covered in tattoos and have him opening his chest uncovering what appears to be his heart. On the outside, the individual in the art piece is covered entirely in tattoos, while some may be taken aback by this or feel threatened by this, or  perhaps awe-inspired, it demonstrates the fact that we are all different on the outside. No one person is the same. However, as the man opens his chest uncovering his heart, the image evokes a rather positive message to me; This message being that no matter how different we all appear to be on the outside, we are all the same in the inside. No matter the number of tattoos one has painted on their bodies, or whatever it may be that sets you apart from societal standards, we are all the same on the inside and we all possess that one particular thing that makes us human: a heart.

Blog Post 7: Graciela Iturbide & Marion C. Martinez

There were a number of astounding artists presented within these two weeks. There were primarily two that really stood out to me mainly because of the backstory in each. The artworks that really stood out to me were entitled Cholas by Graciela Iturbide and Virgen de Guadalupe by Marion C. Martinez.
I quickly became fond of the artwork Cholas simply because it had a funny backstory and it really made me like the image. As explained by the presenter, none of the women pictured in the image knew who any of the prominent figures were in the backdrop of the image. It really made me laugh as to how they blatantly acknowledged the fact that the figures pictured behind them were unknown to them. Honestly, I would react the same because upon first glance, they were also strangers to me. As noted in the presentation, the artist, Iturbide, allowed for the women in the image to choose the location of the image and lo and behold, the women chose to pose in front of some unknown men. This just made me laugh and like the image so much more for their free spirit personality.


Much alike the art piece Cholas, I became quickly intrigued in the artwork entitled Virgen de Guadalupe by Marion C. Martinez for the inquisitive backstory. As noted by the presenter, this art piece is comprised of recycled materials, primarily computer circuit boards. Martinez chose to pursue a new genre of art using computer circuit boards, which she calls "Mixed Tech Media." I really became fascinated with the backstory behind her "Mixed Tech Media" art pieces. The fact that Martinez utilizes computer circuit boards that people threw away is amazing to me. In doing so, Martinez is able to create art through another person's trash; One person's trash is truly another person's treasure.

I think that these two artists are significantly different in that they employ varying subjects in their artwork. Speaking in terms of these two pieces mentioned above, they both portray two different kinds of subjects: animate and inanimate. Iturbide's art piece displays four women and a baby, which are all living subjects. Whereas, Martinez's artwork focuses on subjects that are lifeless.

Blog Post 6: Carmen Lomas Garza

I quite enjoyed learning about Carmen Lomas Garza and how she rose to becoming this well-known Chicana artist. There were really a ton of Lomas Garza's art pieces that really stood out to me for multiple reasons. For instance, Lomas Garza's art piece entitled Tito's Gig On the Moon, really stood out to me mainly because by this time technology had advanced and Lomas Garza utilized the new technologies, such as digital print, into her work.



Another piece by Carmen Lomas Garza that evoked a strong meaning to me was the art piece entitled Cama Para Sueños. This piece really conveyed a positive and inspirational meaning to me. By all means, as noted throughout the book, Lomas Garza has produced an array of amazing work, however, this image in particular evokes this powerful connotation to me. This image in particular portrays two young girls sitting on top of the roof, while the mother figure can be seen through the window preparing the bed. As Cortez notes in the book, there are two beds depicted in the image, one being the actual bed inside the house, while the other being the roof. I really like how the author, Cortez, explains that the roof is the implied second bed in the image where the "...children gaze toward their future and its seemingly endless possibilities." I felt like I could identify and relate with this in particular because as a child I would sometimes hop onto the roof of my house and stare out into the distance. I truly felt like I was the one in the image; I feel like this is an art piece that many can relate to and find touching.   

Blog post 5: Stencil Cover

As a kid, I always enjoyed the holiday Halloween. Whether it was for the scary costumes or the endless amounts of candy, I don't know because I enjoyed both very much. Growing up, I was the one watching all these scary movies, while my cousins would be watching the more age appropriate movies, such as The Lion King. To this day, I enjoy watching horror films; I think that is why I enjoy Halloween so much. For this reason, I have chosen a carved pumpkin as the cover of my sketchbook to symbolize my admiration for Halloween. 

I did not only choose to include a pumpkin as the cover of my sketchbook simply because I enjoy Halloween so much, but also because it is a very nostalgic holiday that brings back a lot of joyous memories with my family. Growing up it was tradition that my family decorate our house as elaborate as possible. My family was always the family that decorated their house the most in our neighborhood. It was always a great time putting the decorations up with the family and spending time together. As many families do, we also carved pumpkins when I was younger. However, I can say my pumpkin carving skills are nowhere near proficient, my stencil is still 100x better.

As shown in the picture, I tried to make my stencil more lively by cutting it more along the sides so it will allow more color to be dispersed around the pumpkin when painted. I simply did not just want the face colored in, I wanted to give my pumpkin a shape to it.  

Blog 4: Laura Alvarez

On Monday's class we had the honor to have the artist Laura Alvarez present to us her marvelous pieces of art and her ideas behind them.  The one art piece I immediately felt drawn towards was called At the Park, which is part of a bigger series called Double Agent Sirvienta. Alvarez explained that this series of works has been in the works for 20 years because she always keeps adding to this particular series.

In In the Park, I found it to be portraying a rather strong feminist perspective, which I found to be amazing, refreshing and liberating. I really was intrigued by the fact that Alvarez creates this strong, well-poised woman delivering this "secret message", with this look of killer confidence, all while carrying a baby on her back. This image evokes a strong sense of individualism and self-reliance for the female community, which I find to be ever-fulfilling. The fact that the mother, displayed in the image, has a jetpack says that this woman cannot be stopped in her tracks. I simply enjoy the fact that while in the background there is a child playing on the ground with their mother watching from the bench, the mother in this piece is carrying her child on her back, along with a jetpack, again all while delivering this secret message. 

Ultimately, I think that Alvarez wants to evoke this strong female voice in her art pieces. Moreover, Alvarez wants to convey to the audience that women are strong, independent, self-supporting and resilient human beings. I feel like this then ties in with Blake's message. Both Alvarez and Blake think that motherhood can still be accomplished all while accomplishing other things in life, such as being a spy as denoted in Alvarez's piece. 

Blog Post: Week 3

In the short essay entitled, “The Iconography of Self Determination: Race, Ethnicity, and Class ” written by Shifra Goldman, the author primarily discusses how the Chicano community reclaimed their native heritage, along with their history in order to produce art that evoked a socially and politically important message. Moreover, the essay continues to explain that Chicano/a art primarily displays the native roots of the Chicano heritage, while also incorporating an important message through the inclusion of significant historical figures. Such important messages are demonstrated in murals, where the historical figures are also included to present the message the artist wants to convey. The author then brings up the topic of stereotypes and explains that it is common for many people to identify themselves with these stereotypes because they are often based on their own ethnicity. Goldman also discusses the fact that many of these stereotypes are actually the ideas present in today’s artwork. Many artists utilize these common stereotypes and centralize them as a main idea in their artwork to present a meaningful message.

In the book Yolanda M. López by Karen Mary Davalos, on page 65, figure 37, the painting entitled Self Portrait, portrays a sense of self-determination. I feel like this painting carries a strong meaning of not only self-determination, but also confidence, empowerment, and independence. In the text, it explains that this painting came about after López found her inner feminist voice while studying at UCSD. López was tired of this sexual connotation with Chicanas. López took it upon herself to demonstrate that Chicanas are not objects to be sexualized, but are also normal human beings. I think this painting truly evokes “self-determination” simply because at this point in her life, López is able to identify with a new self and pursue new goals in terms of her then newly found feminist voice.

Questions for Professor Gaspar de Alba

Essay 1:  Out of the House, the Halo, and the Whore’s Mask: The Mirror of Malinchismo 

In essay 1, the author writes that early feministas were highly critiqued by early leaders of the movement, calling them “white middle-class “wannabes”” and “…anti-Chicano.” In my opinion, this made me portray the early movement leaders as being close-minded and have only one perpective to political problems. Would you agree that if the early Chicano leaders had listened to the early feministas  that there would have been a bigger impact made in the Chicano community, in terms of the political issues they were experiencing at the time by having a different view on these issues? 

In the essay, it explains that early feminists were essentially ignored by the early leaders and their followers simply because they were trying to be something that they were not. I see this as being simple minded. I honestly think that by hearing what others have to say and what they believe you learn what else there is in the world and what others think besides your own ideas. In the end, you don’t have to agree, but knowledge empowers oneself and quite possibly could strengthen your beliefs or change them for the better. If early leaders had listened to these feminists, I wonder how that would have changed the movement and their progress. Calling the early feminists names such as “men-haters, lesbians, and threats to the beliefs and values of la familia” not only shows how early leaders were not open to others and their ideas, but it also shows how far we have come from an isolated mind to a world where others can now speak their minds. Of course people still encounter struggles, but l feel like life for the Chicanos has definitely changed.  

Essay 2: There's No Place Like Aztlan: Embodied Aesthetics in Chicana Art

While reading through There’s No Place Like Aztlán Embodied Aesthetics in Chicana Art by author Gaspar de Alba I actually learned a lot and although coming from a Mexican background I never learned much about the history of my culture. It was interesting to learn about Aztlán and El Movimiento. Prior to this reading I had never heard of Aztlán, it was an unknown word to me. During my reading though, I encountered a part where the author begins explaining that Aztlán is a place for the male Chicano identity and I immediately wondered as to why the female Chicanas were excluded from this place called Aztlán?

I come from a Mexican background, however, my knowledge in Mexican history is not up to par. I do not really know many things about Mexican history so it is quite interesting to read these essays and get a historical background on things. When the author, Gaspar de Alba, was talking about Dorothy earlier in the essay and then talked about Aztlán, I correlated the two as being a place of warmth and comfort. I interpret Aztlán as being a homelike and restful place where people can unite and be happy as one. What I don’t understand is that Chicanas aren't included this place. Is there a specific reason as to why Chicanas are left out? Was Aztlán a dwelling primarily  meant for males?

Carolyn Castaño

For my presentation, I have chosen Carolyn Castaño. I chose this particular artist because her art really stood out to me, both in terms of what she chose to paint and how she executed her paintings. The colors she produces are very vibrant making her art pieces effervescent and have life of their own.

Velasquez, Cristian

Excuse the old picture. (I'm not the picture type)

Hi! My name is Cristian Velasquez and I am a 20 year old, Mexican- American, incoming 3rd year transfer student, majoring in French and minoring in Cognitive Science from San Diego. To be more precise, I come from a small town in San Diego where there is nothing to see, but orange groves, and nowhere to go, except the casinos, so it is quite exciting to be here in LA, especially at one of the most well recognized universities in the country! I was born down south in San Diego to a Mexican family with roots in Zacatecas, Mexico,  as far as I know. Some of my favorite pastimes include cooking, eating, watching scary movies, sleeping, spending time with my nephew and niece, and can't forget, unhealthy amounts of Netflix.

I am quite the language enthusiast. I enjoy learning about language and how we as humans interpret it from a very young age. I feel like language opens up doors to meet new people and especially to the diverse cultures around the globe. I currently speak English, Spanish, French, and very little Italian. I feel like culture is important in human lives because it allows for traditions to be shared with others and passed along from one generation to the next. I became interested in this class simply because I felt it would broaden my knowledge of Chican@ culture (I learned that by including the "@" symbol in the word "Chicano" it is meant to be gender inclusive of both males and females).

As far back as I can remember, my family was not very religious. We considered ourselves Catholics, but did not practice it very much. My first encounter with La Virgen de Guadalupe was when I was very young, perhaps 6-7 years old when we visited my dad's family in Mexico. We arrived at my aunt's house in Zacatecas and there she was, La Virgen de Guadalupe pictured on the wall with a nice gold frame plastered very high on the wall. "Who is that?" I thought. It wasn't until we would occasionally go to church that I saw a similar painting and that is when I concluded that La Virgen de Guadalupe was a religious figure to many people.