Pause and Refresh
I haven’t talked about or mentioned my art much.
I’ve been making my illustrations, so that has been how I have been giving art my attention lately. I have enjoyed and utilized art for its therapeutic and expressive qualities rather than speaking about others’ work. While I still see it every day on social media and admire and appreciate it, I’ve been making art for myself, which has been gratifying enough. But, of course, writing is an art form, as well…
- It’s important to pause and take time to slow down to think.
- I need to find the right balance for me when it comes to research and writing.
- I plan to delve into the research journey I started with my thesis to question and attempt to understand how cultural identity is created in the United States.
“As a visual artist, the shift from using words instead of colors and shapes was hard initially. However, after doodling with letters and phrases, I fell in love with the malleability of the medium. It has fluidity and effortlessness that bring peace and serenity to my mind.”
On Writing
My thesis for my Art History Master’s was on a contemporary sculpture by a Mexican artist. To analyze/study it, I used the theoretical framework of Nepantla created by Gloria Anzaldua. Combining the sculpture and the theory led me to a terrain where I always question how the past has shaped and constructed cultural identities. In these two-particular works of art (the sculpture and the theoretical writing), both women interrogate the formation of Mexican culture. The writing by Anzaldua pushes me to question how Mexican culture has created Mexican identity. I question and investigate my Mexican identity in the United States. This perspective forces me to consider the colonial and imperialistic history of the United States and the Spanish colonial and imperialistic history in Mexico.
I’ve also come to terms with the fact that I have an unconventional writing style.
In 2020 I finished my thesis in history. It was a different kind of challenge to create 50 pages of new knowledge, non-fictional, and then condense it into 23 pages. I realized the weight and power words could have. As a visual artist, the shift from using words instead of colors and shapes was hard initially. However, after doodling with letters and phrases, I fell in love with the malleability of the medium. It has fluidity and effortlessness that bring peace and serenity to my mind. I also realized that I am not restricted to the confines of proper English and grammar. En vezes quiero decir cosas en español porque las palabras en ingles no me alcanzan. Igual como las letras y colores son dos maneras de expresarme, el español y el ingles son dos maneras de expresarme.
