Very good paper, here are some of the passages that jumped out at me:
One of my struggles as a new Latino artist, living in United States, is my constant search for identity.
Probably, like many that came before me and will come after me, the closest answer to this identity dilemma is that to be true to our past and future we must seek out ways of being who we proudly are.
Many of these artists, like anyone else in the world, seek a sense of belonging.
The recurrence of religious themes ,among those two woman artists, is probably closely tied to their cultural
upbringing of home altars and the dominance of catholic religion since early times. The approach to their work may be somehow different but they share the unifying power of
There is an interesting dilemma here: how can the Latino artist "seek a sense of belonging" while emphasizing the details that are unique to their own culture away from that of mainstream America? Also, in the issue of respective Latino artists and their cultures becoming "lumped together" as one thing, I wonder if this gesture happens in both directions: the audience might lump the experience of Latino artists together, but perhaps this is done by the Latino artist's themselves, since it provides a measure of kinship and belonging.
One issue that I think it very present here is that of audience. I have only been to the National Parks in Southern Utah and not to its cities, but I can imagine it's quite a different experience of being Latino than if you were in California or New York. Given the powerful diversity in many of the coastal cities, there is an implied diversity that is assumed by the audience's experience.
Here in Boston, I have recently done an interview with a local artist, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, who is of Afro-Cuban descent, and represented Cuba at the most recent Venice Bienniale. Right now she has shows in NY, Boston, and Miami. Here in Boston, at Tufts University Gallery, a central installation of hers is shown, Spoken Softly With Mama, which is kind of an altar with video and photo images of women ancestors in her family who were servants. The scale and proportion of the piece is somewhat similar to the work you came to the AIB program with!
Also, since I'm from an Asian background - the experience of showing work in American where the audience does not have a strong understanding of the political and social context is similar, and I would think this is true with anyone from a different background in any scenario. Magda addresses this in the interview, how visual art is a language that bridges experiences and can be read by anyone.
best,
Ben
