1.
1960s My Grandmother Valencia,Spain
2.This picture shows my grandmother as a Fallera in Spain. She is Spanish and she is wearing a traditional outfit worn in the week of Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain. I picked this photograph because it is very special to me because it brings me closer to my Spanish heritage. Growing up I have been to the festival of Las Fallas as well and dressed up as a Fallera. During this festival, the people of the city build up huge paper-mache statues and sculptures and that has served as another representation and explanation of my love of art. The picture itself is quite elegant, the quality and hue of it in my opinion depicts a time period quite well.
3.In my design work I am very influenced by my own culture. My grandma has always been the one I look for to find it. I try to be very in touch with my Spanish heritage because it is what I connect to the most in terms of art. My grandmothers father was a painter and I’ve always admired his work. This picture reminds me of all that Spain is to me. It helps me remember one of my many cultures. I grab a lot of influence from it. I think that for me it is very important to have my art work represent parts of my culture because I have always had trouble identifying a particular place as a home or a culture as mine because of me moving and having different cultures within my family. In a way, this picture always shows me proof that I am part of the Spanish culture, so when I bring that culture in to my art, I don’t feel as if I am appropriating because to me the culture holds a huge space in my life
1.
Early 1970s
My Grandmother
Mexico City, Mexico
2.To contrast the past image, I picked another of my grandma as well but now she is wearing a typical “Charro” outfit on her wedding day to my grandfather. The reasons I chose this other image is because it shows my other culture, Mexican. Also, I think it is a beautiful expression depicting the mixing of cultures. My grandma fully Spanish marrying a Mexican man who loved his country and traditions with all his heart. This image to me is mysterious, I don’t feel as if I grew up with a strong Mexican heritage, it was always overpowered and outnumber by that of Spain. As well, I did not have a close relationship to my grandfather when he was alive and he died when I was less than ten. So to me this image shows my grandma in an unusual light, adopting and celebrating a culture which wasn’t hers. As well, the aesthetic of this image is absolutely amazing with the contrast of black and white and the printed curtain to the side.
3.This image to me is so new. I normally pull inspiration from my Spanish heritage because it is what I know best, but this would push me to look for inspiration in other parts of my culture. I have never deeply associated with the clothes represented and I would like to further explore them to understand and in the future find a way to implement both of my cultures in a cohesive manner. I was born in Mexico and so were both of my parents so I would like to start implementing that heritage in to more of my work and this could be a great start to learn more about it and figure out how I connect with it. It would make me form a bond with the culture in order to be able to use it in my art.
