by Heather Hurd

Created on: February 28, 2009   Last Updated: March 08, 2009

Amalia Mesa-Bains was born and raised in California. In her work she uses the building and exhibition of altars to explore the unique world of the feminine in Chicano culture. She takes many of her artistic elements directly from the Catholic culture that dominates much of Latin America.[i] Growing up in a Latin and Catholic household, Mesa-Bains was raised with the strong feminine influences of her mother and grandmother. These influences helped to form her personal view of Chicano culture and the place of women within that context.

Her main vehicle of expression for her art is the home altar, a common element of religious faith and worship in the Chicano community. These altars, present in almost every household, can range from simple to extremely complex representations of personal faith. Mesa-Bains uses the traditions of her culture, both in the form of altars and in the frequent use of Day of the Dead imagery, to create art that represents "aspects of a redemptive and resilient struggle to maintain family history and cultural continuity in the face of colonial domination."[ii] Her work has reflected this struggle in the representation and celebration of great Chicano figures.

Mesa-Bains considers her art as an effective way to reclaim the shared struggle of Chicana women throughout history. She has created altars in celebration of Frida Kahlo, the actress Dolores del Rio, and the writer Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, as well as her own grandmother, Mariana Escobedo.[iii] The altar for Dolores del Rio includes pictures of the actress as well as the overall form of a vanity table that suggests her occupation. Mesa-Bains's combination of popular figures and religious iconography places contemporary images in the places usually reserved for saints and images of God.

By using images in this way, she "counters the power of the Church" and claims these forms as her own.[iv] The altar in celebration of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz is part of a series of altars entitled Venus Envy. The second installation in this series represents the library of Sor Juana de la Cruz.[v] De la Cruz is considered by many to be a pioneer of the rights of women. As a Hispanic scholar during the seventeenth century, she challenged male domination of academics during her time as a nun in New Spain.[vi] These celebrations of feminine power in Mexican history began for Mesa-Bains as expressions of political alignment with general movements toward Chicano equality, and have grown to become explorations

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