chilena art – nonexiled, nonparrista, nondisappeared-inspired, nonchilenista, que mierda será todo eeeeeeeeeeesto??
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008definitions always work best at the beginning, though they do not delineate my writing:
chilena: (morena version)
pinochetista:
student:
chicana:
local art: so far, the definition I have derived is that of art created in-location, and remains within the area from which its medium has been proportioned. made-in-china “native american” art isnt local art. christmas trees bought down the street and decorated at home are local art. (i am not relating these examples to pagan rituals, etc). riverside townscapes about the mission inn sold in the shops nearby is local art. giant robot toys made in other asian countries are integral parts of LA identity, yet they are not local art. curanto is a hole in the ground from which people bake cookies and bread in south Chile, yet it is not local art unless its remains and evidence are moved to a museum a couple kms away.
post-modernism:
contemporary:
The classification of a handmade rug that is less than 25 years of age. Cotton In handmade rugs, this is the central material used to create its foundation. (www.wfca.org/Rugs/Glossary.aspx)
ok, so keeping in mind that i am not attempting to bore you to death, please giggle a little bit with me. a chuckle or something. una risita 
what is it to be a foreign-born latina woman of color making art in southern california, in a predominantly brown-skinned school, hip hop, with a history of LGBTIQQA and polyamory activism, herb smoker, daily bike-rider and burrito eater, AND spanish speaking between classes. Well, to many, that would be a typical contemporary chicana artist living the contemporary chicana way of life. to some degree.
WELL. throw in some physical privilege, francophonie, strict table manners, difficult science degree, rock-solid parental values, otaku-ness, spanish and german surrealist / fantasy literature, french deconstructivism and realistic prose, j/k/hk/c/brit/euro/turbofolk/latin-pop/rock, bollywood and Goa, moderate psychedelic use, drum and bass/breakcore/breaks, and obsession with mexican fine arts. –> ok, this delineates the path which seeks to destroy this chicana way of like, the chicana way of life.
YET, given my provenance alone, I am deemed, the area of my residence also, to be pooled along with the women whose art I appear to be working against due to my subject matter. I am working on subjects un-related to the way of life of a latina preoccupied with equality of living in the space which was protected and kept for ages by her ancestors. Why is this so? I am aware that my privilege has provided me with a blank base of existence, a space where my art is not a response to my “unwanted” presence in the contemporary, post-mexican, post-colonial, pre-futuristic world of riverside.
So here I express my ultimate dream:
From the moment I landed in LAX back in teh DAY (1998-the nth move #1), with my backpack full of books and coloring pencils, wearing baggy levi’s from a previous trip to Las Vegas, and my favorite green Chilean designer top, I decided that my one goal in life must be to become the toughest and roughest Cholita the world ever saw. Those thin arched eyebrows, that pink-gold-salmon eyeshadow, the white eyeliner, and most of all, the burgundy lipstick with the dark lipliner… the dickies w the crease, the fat white shoes with the wiiiiiiiiiiiide laces, and the PERFECT hair. EEEEVERY day. I must have gained about 15 kgs getting my face as round as possible, my hips as wide, and my thighs as thick. I chopped my hair off to the core (my curls just weren’t perm-y enough), yet I still viewed head gear as a sigh, a sign of weaker gender, so I avoided bandannas, walking around in my new body and image, a chubby-lookin whitewashed pretend Vata.
Of course this didnt in reality, work. lots of persona studies came after that, attempting to find an “identity” for my foreign existence where even my latina sisters did not envision my as a peer.
CHICANA ART – according to Laura E Perez, attempts to draw strength for our women through exploration of artmaking as part of autochtonous spirituality. this is mexican land, latina land, and as earths of this earth, we must support and enforce our living as valid and as beautiful as any other colonial woman’s living.
it hurts not being mexican. why is this pattern of chilean artists falling in love with mexico and never going back forreals?? (aka La Ley ja ja ja ja ja) de lo bueno, bueno. de lo cierto, nada.
