Feast & Famine Gallery

    My final project is focused on immigrants and going through the Feast & Famine gallery we came upon a wall of posters in which the same topic is touched upon. Although there was a wall of posters literally in connection with my topic, I noticed that other pieces in the gallery mentioned the issue of immigrants in the agricultural industry. A poster entitled Tonantzin (2011) created by Melanie Cervantes, a woman is depicted like the Virgin Mary however, the woman is dressed in traditional Mexican attire, an interesting choice because the Spanish invaders brought over christianity I.E the Virgin Mary. There is another poster that lined up the wall, Solidarity with Migrant Workers (2018)  by Nicolas Lampert which features an ear of corn depicted like a bomb falling upon a family consisting of a father, a mother and their daughter. The poster really resonates with me because my parents are immigrants however they did not work in the agricultural industry in the U.S but they did work on their parent’s farm. The poster is a statement on the devastating effects migrant workers are placed under. There were other works in the gallery which I feel are related to the topic of immigrants but in a more indirect way. For example in the gallery, Chris Thorson displayed his piece Boxed In (2012) which is literally a box containing fake fruit such as watermelon, banana and some apples. Through the Feast and Famine gallery I saw that as individual art pieces someone may not seem very politically conscious or actively critiquing the status quo but in they way they are presented to me, the gallery has a certain activist feel about it.
     While my project is a photography zine, I was able to draw inspiration from the gallery we went to visit on Newark. There was a wall that had  a lot of posters, some was dealing with the Dakota pipeline protest, others were talking about the injustices of not providing healthy food options to the community and a few were also similar to my thesis, immigration. The posters brought awareness to the issues at hand, although they did not have a solution to the issues, that did not mean that it didn't do its job. A particular poster that really caught my attention was Tonantzin (2011) by Melanie Cervantes it was a woman dressed in an indigenous clothing, a sight I was very familiar with while I was visiting my grandparents in Mexico. I was also reminded of a well known character famous in Mexico, La India Maria, a character my mom grew up watching. This type of clothing can also be found in Central America and some variations can be found in South America as well. The proof that these clothing is still being used today shows the resilience of the indigenous people still keeping their traditions alive post-christianity conserversion. However, the artist also felt the need to depict the lady as being saint like,a byproduct of christianity, she was able to depict this notion by placing ears of corn around her sort of like the Virgin Mary. Cervantes pays homage to the traditional clothing of the Americas by also adding elements of their culture such as the snake underneath her feet. In a summary of her art Cervantes wrote, “ This portrait is of a Rarámuri (Tarahumara) woman. I include the serpent symbology because prior to a Judeo-Christian tradition which views serpents as evil, indigenous matriarchal worldviews associate serpents with spiritual wisdom, femininity and being grounded.” Cervantes memorializes the culture and identity of the indigenous people before the Spanish came and unfortunately overthrew them.

Melanie CervantesTonantzin (2011) 

     The second artist that caught my attention is Nicolas Lampert and his work, Solidarity with Migrant Workers (2018). The poster shows a family of three about to be bombed by what looks like a corn shaped like a bomb. In order to understand what the artist wants to portray, we need to know what a migrant worker is. A migrant worker is someone who travels to another country for seasonal employment, in many cases this means going to work in fields when the season allows it. A big issue going on in America is the large number of unemployment among the U.S citizens and the mistreatment of these migrant workers. More often than not, companies and landowners hire these migrant workers because they work for less money however, in most cases these people do not understand the English language which in turn makes them easy prey and susceptible to unjust working conditions. Time and time again I see on the news the wildfires California is experiencing and the workers are still being forced to work when smoke is literally impeding their breathing and all they are given are masks that do not help. This poster is clearly an act of protest, an art piece meant for people to acknowledge that the produce they consume are being harvested in an unjust, unlawful and cruel matter.
Solidarity with Migrant Workers

          Nicolas Lampert (2018)

     Looking at these artist’s work gave me inspiration to pursue a more pure sense of activism, not something trivial or something that a scholar can only understand. They made use of drawings in their projects and it sent out the message of bringing awareness to an issue they felt that needed to be heard. This is something I wish to portray in my final project. I will be using photography to portray the issue of immigration and how people not only from central or south america are being ridiculed by the media but also give people, the ones who are in position of power a chance to see their side of the story. To let the people who don’t have to worry about being deported have that acknowledgement that people are being ripped away from their families. My project won't be including much words but I hope the photographs will be enough for someone to say that these are people, not statistics.

Rebelde, Dignidad, and Dignidad Rebelde. "Tonantzin (2011)". Dignidad Rebelde, 2019, https://shop.dignidadrebelde.com/product/tonantzin-2011.