Dibujando tu Imaginación
As the first U.S.-born daughter to Mexican immigrants, I grew up reserved and with little sense of belonging. My nationality and ancestry being so tightly intertwined often perplexed myself and others, but I tended to find relief in teaching and learning from fellow Mexican-Americans, mestizos, and/or children of immigrants. Throughout my education, I let these connections come to me, but this passive approach to seeking out community was not sustainable.
In 2021, a conscious effort to “belong” and develop my creative skills led to some amazing public opportunities. As the COVID-19 pandemic mellowed, I attended socially distant crafting workshops at MACLA, showcased illustrations and photographs at San José City Hall’s celebration of Mexican Independence Day, and presented my first ever block prints at the Mexican Heritage Plaza’s Afterlife exhibit. When reflecting at the end of the year, I was overjoyed to feel like an active member of a welcoming community! But how would I keep this momentum going into the new year and beyond? Through my connections.
In March of 2022, I received an invitation from the Consulate of Mexico in San José inviting me to participate in “Dibujando tu Imaginación”, (Drawing your Imagination) a project in collaboration with the writer Mónica del Valle. I was informed that the Consulate had organized the artist showcase for the celebration of Mexican Independence Day and sought to further engage local artists of Mexican descent for Day of the Dead.
Without prior knowledge of the aforementioned writer or her work, I accepted the invitation. By focusing on specific passages from her 2018 bilingual novel "Souls in the Mist: A Tale I Lived”, myself and four other local artists familiarized ourselves with the main character, Tía Tere. Then, we created our interpretations of either Tía Tere herself or a scene from the story, which were exhibited that summer and fall.
Throughout several virtual readings by the author, I took note of the different aspects of Tía Tere’s life—her present day, memories from her youth, and the ways in which she prepared to celebrate Day of the Dead in her rural Mexican village. Mónica del Valle was generous enough to send PDFs of the passages from her book which allowed me to share the story with my parents. As I read each page aloud, my mother nodded joyfully, “¡Así mero lo haríamos en nuestro pueblo!” (That’s exactly how we’d do things in our village!).
It soon dawned on me that many of Tía Tere’s habits and customs were identical to that of my parents and grandparents. For instance, cooking for passed loved ones, exchanging treats with family, and referring to Day of the Dead by its traditional name, “Todos Santos” (All Saints). The cherry on top was learning that the book was originally published as ”Voces Entre Nubes: Un cuento que me paso” in 1996, and that the events which inspired it took place in San Pedro Mixtepec, Oaxaca—a two hour drive from San Pedro Pochutla, the closest city to my maternal family’s remote mountain village.
During Spanish colonization, Mexican towns were assigned a Catholic patron saint (such as San Pedro) while also retaining the town’s indigenous name (like Mixtepec or Pochutla). When it came time to visualize my interpretation of Tía Tere, I referenced photographs of my maternal grandmother, both my parents’ hometown church altars, and San Pedro himself. I chose to bring the digital illustration to life by using a mix of laser printing and linoleum block printing as a tribute to my graphic design background and the long-standing tradition of relief printing in Mexico.
We unveiled our art on June 8th at the Consulate in South San Jose surrounded by the consuls, family, and friends. Mónica del Valle and the original book’s illustrator, Edgardo Kerlegand, joined us remotely. Each artist took turns summarizing our experiences and approaches, after which the author and the illustrator provided feedback. The consuls provided each artist with a certificate commemorating our participation, and kept our art to display in their offices for the entire month.
The fall exhibition took place on November 3rd at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown. We virtually reconnected with Mónica del Valle (who would later fly in from Mexico City) in the weeks leading up to the presentation to coordinate the reading of an excerpt from “Souls in the Mist”. I was set to read for the character of Tía Juana, whom I had chosen for her indigenous Oaxacan way of speaking, but sadly, I fell ill and was ultimately unable to participate. Thankfully, Mónica del Valle went live on Facebook and it was there that I watched the introductions, an interview by SCU professor Pedro Hernández-Ramos, the reading, and Q&A with attendees.
I am deeply honored to have participated in and to be sharing this experience. Participating in this project solidified my approach to making art, challenged my bilingual abilities (as all communications took place in Spanish), and most of all, reignited the passion I feel for strengthening distant familial relationships and sharing historical knowledge as it pertains to my ancestry.
Dibujando tu Imaginación Exhibitions held at Consulado General de México + Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San José, USA in June and November of 2023, respectively. Coordinated by Brenda Esquivel.
Piece included: Tía Tere
