This research is being submitted to this unit because it explores how religious expression through art facilitates spiritual liberation. I analyze the artist's work and its impact on promoting liberation in both the artist's life and the lives of viewers who engage with it in museum settings.
Chicanas have faced oppression historically through colonization and the rippling effects of machismo and marianismo. The oppression of Chicanas comes not only from the dominant Anglo culture but also from within the Chicano/Mexican American ethnic group. Paulo Freire states that the fundamental theme of our epoch is domination. If, by extension, domination is a fundamental theme in Chicana lives, then liberation is an objective to be achieved. However, Catholic Mexican American women struggle to find freedom in and through their faith because Catholic spaces are often reserved, occupied, and controlled by men.
One path to finding freedom is transitioning from the private realm of the Church to the public square, which circumvents the control of Roman Catholic orthodoxy. An important aspect of the public square is culture, particularly expression through art. Art has historically served as a means for individuals to express themselves, explore their identities, build community, and challenge oppressive structures. For example, liberative art practices during the Chicano movement included printmaking that incorporated Mesoamerican spirituality and cosmologies. Another example is Las Mujeres Muralistas in the Mission District of San Francisco, which was created to promote cultural pride and self-determination free from male-dominated spaces. Art is a way for the artist to loosen the reins of oppression and, communally through museums and public viewing, onlookers experience their own form of conscientization and liberation.
In this research, I argue that one way Chicanas have achieved their own liberation is through embodying Our Lady of Guadalupe by reinterpreting the icon to reflect themselves and those within their community. I focus on the works of three artists: Ester Hernandez, "La Virgen de Las Calles" (2001); Alma López's, "Our Lady" (1999); and Yolanda López's, "Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe," from the series "Guadalupe" (1978). Through embodying Guadalupe, Chicanas experience liberation by engaging in conscientization. With Paulo Freire's concept in mind, I define a part of conscientization that leads to humanization as the ongoing process of looking back to remember and looking forward to becoming. I include interviews with the artists and their viewers to explore how the artists engaged in conscientization during the creation of their works and how viewers may undergo conscientization when interacting with the art. I build upon Christopher D. Tirres' recent work of Paulo Freire's understanding of conscientization as a spiritual praxis. Which allows me to examine how Ester Hernandez, Alma López, and Yolanda López pursue not only secular liberation but also a form of spiritual liberation through their art.
Establishing a foundation for Chicana liberation through the embodiment of Our Lady of Guadalupe will allow for an expansion of research into contemporary art that reinterprets this figure. This includes works such as "Our Lady of the Checkpoint" by Celeste De Luna from 2019, as well as pieces that represent Our Lady on the artists' own terms, like "Citlatli: Cuando Eramos Sanos" by Debora Kuetzpal Vasquez from 2012, which was created intentionally to "challenge social and political issues pertaining to womxn and Raza (people)." ("Artist Page: Debora Kuestpal Vasquez") By becoming Guadalupe, Chicanas are active agents in shaping their history and future, rejecting colonialism, machismo, marianismo, and any social construction of Chicanas that functions to exclude and/or oppress, thereby experiencing a form of self and communal liberation.
"Artist Page: Debora Kuestpal Vasquez." Xicanx Art, https://xicanxart.com/artworks/citlatli-cuando-eramos-sanos-2012/. Accessed December 28, 2024.
Chicanas have faced oppression historically through colonization and its rippling effects of machismo and marianismo. Paulo Freire states that the fundamental theme of our epoch is domination. If, by extension, domination is a fundamental theme in Chicana lives, then liberation is an objective to be achieved. In this research, I argue that one way Chicanas have achieved their own liberation is through embodying Our Lady of Guadalupe by reinterpreting the icon to reflect themselves and those within their community. I examine the artwork of Ester Hernandez, Alma López, and Yolanda López. Through the form of embodying Guadalupe, Chicanas experience liberation by engaging in conscientization that is political and spiritual. By becoming Guadalupe, Chicanas are active agents in shaping their history and future, rejecting colonialism, machismo, marianismo, and any social construction of Chicanas that functions to exclude and/or oppress, thereby experiencing a form of self and communal liberation.