NO QUIERO QUE SE VAYA

______

A Master’s Exhibition

of Paintings

Presented

to the Faculty of

California State University, Chico

______

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree

Master of Fine Arts

in

Art

______

by

Tonantzin Esquivel

Spring 2019 NO QUIERO QUE SE VAYA

A Master’s Exhibition

by

Tonantzin Esquivel

Spring 2019

APPROVED BY THE INTERIM DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES:

______Sharon Barrios, Ph.D.

APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

______Cameron G. Crawford, M.F.A. Asa S. Mittman, Ph.D., Chair Graduate Coordinator

______Cameron G. Crawford, M.F.A. TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

List of Exhibition Figures ...... iv

Abstract...... v

NO QUIERO QUE SE VAYA

Introduction ...... 1 Purpose of the Project...... 1 Scope ...... 1 Significance of the Project ...... 3 Limitations of the Project...... 4 Survey and Review of Related Literature ...... 4 Methodology ...... 7 Formal and Conceptual Basis of Work ...... 10 Conclusion...... 11

Bibliography ...... 13

Master’s Exhibition...... 16

iii LIST OF FIGURES

MASTER’S EXHIBITION

JACKI HEADLEY UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

SPRING 2019

FIGURE PAGE

1. “Fallow Land (Tierra Sin Plantar),” oil on canvas on panel; 36” x 102”; Spring 2018...... 17

2. “Cherry Lady (Señora de las Cerezas),” oil on canvas on panel; 48” x 36”; Spring 2018 ...... 18

3. “Orchard Memories (Memorias de la Huerta),” oil and resin on linen and canvas on panel; 60” x 174” (12”x16” each); Spring 2018...... 19

4. “Harvest Babies (Bebes de la Cosecha),” oil on canvas on panel; 42” x 57”; Spring 2018 ...... 20

5. “A Home (Un Hogar),” oil on canvas on panel; 48” x 126”; Spring 2018...... 21

6. “Playing in the Vegetable Garden (Jugando en la Hortaliza),” oil and resin on linen and canvas on panel; 42” x 57”; Spring 2018...... 22

7. “Loving Husband, Father, Son (Amado Esposo, Padre, Hijo),” oil and resin on linen and canvas on panel; 66” x 48”; Spring 2018...... 23

iv ABSTRACT

NO QUIERO QUE SE VAYA

by

Tonantzin Esquivel

Master of Fine Arts in Art

California State University, Chico

Spring 2019

No Quiero Que Se Vaya is an exhibition of seven oil paintings depicting por- traits and agricultural imagery. The project began with representing Northern California’s central valley agricultural environment based on the artist’s personal experience of being raised and living as a farmer. The project began with gathering images of the environ- ment and using photography as a tool to reassemble the artist’s memories, followed by turning them into multilayered oil paintings.

The paintings became a technical exploration of combining abstract and rep- resentational styles of painting. Research was completed in order to understand contemporary art with an emphasis on agriculture. No Quiero Que Se Vaya is intended to give the audience an inside view of life as a Mexican-American farmer’s daughter, and giving voice to a group of people who are often suppressed in society.

v NO QUIERO QUE SE VAYA

INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the Project

This project is a portrait of a place and of a family. It began as a personal investigation of my own family’s life and a celebration of their accomplishments.

Culturally, it is fact that immigrant parents come to the United States to work hard in order to provide for their families and for their children to have a successful future. The paintings are a visual documentation of my family members and the environment we live in – including my immigrant parents, our house and orchard that, with years of hard work and sacrifice, they became sole owners of. Our family farm has now been passed down to the second generation.

The title No Quiero Que Se Vaya is Spanish and translates into English as “I

Do Not Want It To Go.” The paintings are a timeless recording of my personal experience of being raised and living as a farmer. By painting my family members, I honor their achievements and express their importance with each minute and brushstroke contributed in the completion of the paintings.

Scope

The content depicted in the exhibition are various images of my family members, who are of Mexican decent: my father is rendered as a full figure, my mother is rendered from the waist up, two young brothers are painted as complete figures, and two young girls, my sister and I, are rendered from the waist up. All are painted on large

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panels. One family friend and two cousins are presented as male adult figures, painted on

smaller panels. The expressions on my family members’ faces vary; my mother is

smiling, while the rest of my family’s expressions are ambiguous and open to

interpretation. The three smaller male figures’ faces are not visible as they are turned

away from the viewer.

Agricultural imagery – orchards, leaves, and fruits – are intermingled with the

figures. They are layered in-between, over, and under loose, fluid painted layers. Those

fluid layers are unclear and abstract, suggesting fading imagery, weather, and

incorporating a sense of energy into the paintings. The paintings are composed of several

layers; some paintings have a single layer and some have up to seven distinct layers.

The format of the project is oil paintings painted on canvas, and linen applied to wooden panels of varying rectangular sizes, ranging from 16 inches tall by 12 inches wide for the smallest individual panel to 60 inches tall by 48 inches wide for the largest individual panel. The hierarchy of the paintings is represented by the size of the paintings. The exhibition is composed of seven paintings, two that are diptychs – a painting consisting of two parts to create one piece – and a polyptych – a painting

consisting of more than three panels. The polyptych consists of 29 small oil paintings that each measure 16 inches tall by 12 inches wide. They are arranged in a grid “diamond planted” format, measuring 60 inches tall by 174 inches wide.

Entering the gallery, the first piece seen from the doorway is the polyptych grid, titled Orchard Memories (Memorias de la Huerta), hanging on the back wall of the

gallery. Turning left, on the wall is my name and the title of the show in black vinyl with

an English and Spanish artist statement mounted directly below that. Walking farther into

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the exhibition and following a clockwise direction, the viewer then sees Fallow Land

(Tierra Sin Plantar) (Figure 1), Cherry Lady (Señora de las Cerezas) (Figure 2), Orchard

Memories (Memorias de la Huerta) (Figure 3), Harvest Babies (Bebes de la Cosecha)

(Figure 4), A Home (Un Hogar) (Figure 5), Playing in the Vegetable Garden (Jugando en

la Hortaliza) (Figure 6), and ending with Loving Husband, Father, Son (Amado Esposo,

Padre, Hijo) (Figure 7).

Significance of the Project

This project added information to today’s knowledge of a demographic group

– Mexican American and Chicano people in the United States – and their success in

achieving the American Dream. My family served as role models for people in the same

position as ours in our community, and this project extended that role out of our

community, adding diversity to success stories of immigration. The exhibition created a

forum that invited a dialogue about awareness of farmworkers, providing a voice to the

voiceless. Farmworkers are represented and brought to the forefront to be seen by society

through these paintings. S Dennis Romero notes: “Latinos are now 39 percent of

California’s population and represent California’s largest racial or ethnic group. More

than a third of them are age 20 or younger, according to the California Senate office of

Research.”1

I am adding to the current generation of farmers, and even more specifically to

Chicano farmers. Coming from previous generations of working in the fields, current

1 Dennis Romero, “A Chicano Renaissance? A New Mexican-American Generation Embraces Term,” NBCNews, July 15, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/chicano-renaissance-new- mexican-american-generation-embraces-term-n869846.

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Chicano farmers not only continue that tradition but also strive to be land and business

owners themselves. I represent the American Dream from one generation to the next.

Farming themed art with Mexican American, Chicano emphasis is not as active today as

it was during The Movimiento of the 60s and 70s – the fight for civil rights for

farmworkers that was led by Cesar Chavez– but is still happening and needs to keep

being represented.

Limitations of the Project

Limitations of this project included focusing on the agricultural environment

in Northern California, as that is where I reside, and only using my family, extended

family, and friends in regards to resources and time. However, these figures become

stand-ins for the larger California Chicano farming community.

Survey and Review of Related Literature

The research for this project began with me identifying myself as Chicana/x.

“The term Chicano, feminine form Chicana, is an identifier for people of Mexican

descent born in the United States. This term came into popular use by Mexican-

Americans as a symbol of pride during the of the 1960s.”2 The term,

originally a derogatory word, was embraced by the community, which appropriated it and

flipped its meaning, ultimately assisting in the empowerment and a rise, politically and

culturally, against years of social oppression and discrimination in the United States. The

Chicano Movement, also known as El Movimiento, consisted of several large

2 Miguel E. Gallardo, “Chicano,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed February 1, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chicano. 4

organizations and collectives working together, all fighting for civil liberty and rights;

two of these are the (UFC) and the artist collective Los Four, an art

collective that created activist public artwork for a general audience, whose members are

Carlos Almaraz, Gilbert “Magu” Sanchez Lujan, Roberto de la Rocha, ,

and later included Judithe Hernandez.3

Further research was continued on the United Farm Workers (UFC)

movement in order to understand California’s agricultural history and ’

involvement in it. Though the majority of involved workers being Chicanos, the UFC

included other minorities as well. Led by Cesar Chavez and co-founder Dolores Huerta –

with its beginnings in California and subsequent national expansion – the UFC redefined

farm labor activism through the successful organization of farm workers and the non- violent organizing strategies of boycotts and strikes. The organization was eventually recognized as a union and contracts were signed by California growers of giant agribusiness farms for increased wages, and improved civil and human rights for farm workers.4

In addition to Los Four, I also investigated others who made an impact on

Chicano art. The books Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works,

Culture, and Education, Volume I and II, by Gary D. Keller, cover a range of established

and emerging artists whose artwork represents various key topics that define Chicano

3 “Los Four,” MCA, accessed February 1, 2019, https://mcachicago.org/Publications/Websites/West-By-Midwest/Research/Topics/Los-Four. 4 Inga Kim, “The Rise of the UFW,” UFW, April 3, 2017, https://ufw.org/the-rise-of-the-ufw/. 5

culture from its rise in the 1960s to 2000.5 Concentrating on the theme of agriculture and

Chicano, Mexican-American culture, it was discovered that agriculture is still mainly

represented by artwork derived during the Farm Workers Movement.

It was also important to understand today’s young Chicanx generation, our

Chicanismo and its art. Chicanx is an evolution of the original term Chicano/a, the “x” being gender and sexual orientation neutral. About 39 percent of the population in

California today is Latino, age 20 or younger. “Nowadays, is mostly about ethnic pride, cultural expression and the defense of immigrants.”6 Today’s youths’ instant

access to history through the internet and ease of knowledge and use of social media is

the basis for the resurgence of Chicano pride, though it is believed that because there is

no exact cause being fought for as in the 60s, Chicano art has “gotten blurry.”7 The topic

of agriculture is not seen when dealing with today’s young Chicanx generation, which

makes sense since the average age of farmers in California is 53.8

My home is a place that is located in Northern California. The idea of a place

is “a portion of land, town, or cityscape as seen from the inside. It is the resonance of a

specific location that is known and familiar.”9 A location becomes “known and familiar”

when tied to our personal memory, known and unknown histories, and marks made in the

5 Gary D. Keller, Arturo J. Aldama, Craig Smith, and Marilyn Szabo, Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education (Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue, 2002), 1:15-18. 6 Romero, “A Chicano Renaissance?” 7 Lilledeshan Bose, “A Conversation on Chicano Art: Artist Jose Lozano and Collector Armando Duron,” KCET, September 25, 2012, https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/a-conversation-on- chicano-art-artist-jose-lozano-and-collector-armando-duron. 8 United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, State Data, last updated March 6, 2019, https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17854. 9 Lucy R. Lippard, The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society (New York: New Press, 1998), 7. 6

land that provoke and evoke. It is important to note that my personal experiences and

history have shaped those few acres of land into a place and into a home. A person’s

connection to a place is about “what surrounds it, what formed it, what happened there,

what will happen there,” and, without those personal connections, that land remains as

just another piece of land.10

The two paintings, Fallow Land and A Home (Figures 1 and 5) in No Quiero

Que Se Vaya are landscape paintings. Those paintings are important to the exhibition as they establish a setting for all the other images to live in. They help the audience understand my home as a whole. The other details and experiences reflected on the other paintings (Figure 5 through Figure 8) give those landscape scenes an intimate perspective, turning them into a place for the audience, as well. As Lucy R. Lippard writes, “The function of art is to make special; as such, it can raise the special qualities of place embedded in everyday life, restoring them to those who created them.”11

Methodology

The first step in forming the project was remembering childhood memories

and documenting them in writing and sketches. The second step was photographing the surrounding agricultural environment and my family. I carried the camera with me to

work in the orchards. Photographs were used for reference, as it was important to accurately document details and fleeting moments for future paintings. The reference photographs varied from portraits of people, to them working in the orchards, to

capturing details of their work clothes and personal safety equipment. The surrounding

10 Lippard, The Lure, 7. 11 Ibid., 37. 7

agricultural environment included orchard sceneries, individual trees, branches, leaves,

and fruits.

Other interesting views were close-up images, like the varying range of colors

in nature, the textures, the composition of the trees and land, the patterns found in nature

as well as humanity’s structured nature, and more. Glimpses of all those things made their way into the paintings. The photographs were taken quickly and without much planning, referencing the snapshot memories in my mind from growing up in my home.

Other family photographs were also used from my family’s album. All of the

photographs were stored in two folders on the computer, one for nature-related imagery

and the other for photos of people.

The third step in forming the project was composing the imagery gathered into

sketches. It would begin in my mind, since thought is faster than physical sketching.

Once the idea was formed, digital sketches were completed using Photoshop. Depending

on the complexity and accuracy of the memory being composed, some of the sketches

required multiple reference photographs and digital manipulation, focusing on sections of

photos, colors and, opacities.

The last step of the project was completing the oil paintings. The paintings

were based on the digital sketches previously composed, though changes and sudden

decisions were made while working on the paintings, as paintings in progress may call

for unplanned choices. Wooden panels, some wrapped in canvas and linen, make the

structure of each painting. Oil paint and other solvents were used in order to achieve the

desired aesthetic effects and to assist in adjusting the paints’ drying time. Each painting is

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composed of one to nine layers, some done with poured paint and others meticulously painted with brushes.

The abstract weather paintings were the first layer to be applied to the blank panels. This abstract style is created using an action process technique. This way of

painting is about knowing paint as a material and letting the paint “do its thing” with

knowledge of how the paint reacts and moves.

In this case, linseed oil, Liquin-glazing medium, and Galkyd fast dry medium

were all used as paint vehicles, and Gamsol mineral spirits as a resist. Specific oil paint

colors were mixed into these oil mediums, then dripped, splashed, poured, and moved by

gravity, depending on the natural warps of the canvas and panels. The same was done

with the Gamsol mineral spirits, but when this mixture was applied by whatever method

to the panels with colored medium, the mixtures reacted to one another, separating and

pooling, resisting one another.

These paintings were then laid flat to fully dry before more layers were

applied. Because there was limited control to be had in this method of painting, each

painting is unique and impossible to replicate. The energy taken to create these paintings

is visible through the final paint marks and gestures. When painting abstractly, the mind

wanders and the hands and body create the paintings.

The representational images depict specific details of my home –

encompassing natural imagery, people, and my house. A projector was used to help

accurately transfer the reference images onto the panels to be painted on. It is important

for the painter’s personal gestures to transfer onto the paintings, as it is believed the

9

emotions of those gestures are reflected in the finished piece.12 When painting these representational images, the oil paint body is thinned down with linseed oil and Liquin

glazing medium. Doing so adds a dimensionality and a luminosity to the paintings that is

achieved with multiple painted glazed layers. This is a classical oil painting technique. It

is a slow process, methodically painting each brushstroke and consciously being aware of how each brushstroke affects the painting as a whole.

Some paintings were sealed with a layer of epoxy resin. This was done by using a two-part epoxy resin and pouring it over the horizontally-leveled painting.

Formal and Conceptual Basis of Work

Memories range from sharp, new memories to old, faded memories. In order to portray the passage of fading time, many layers were used in the creation and execution of the paintings. These layers sometimes obscure the representational images painted beneath them, suggesting a fading memory, and sometimes the representational images are painted sharply and clearly over all the layers, suggesting the clarity of those memories. Agreeing with Chicano artist Andrew J. Ortiz, “the layering of images to create a final piece is the visual equivalent of the layering of experience that creates who” the artist is.13

Another aspect used in portraying the fading and clearness of memories was

the use of resin as a physical separation from the viewer. The resin layers act as an

emotional and physical barrier between the images, almost as if the painting is being seen

12 Laurie Fendrich, Why Painting Still Matters (Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 2000), 35. 13 Keller et al., Contemporary Chicana, 2:178. 10

through a window. These resin layers serve to protect the fading memories before they completely disappear.

A very important aspect of agriculture and farming is the weather. Climate in

Northern California can be quite drastic some years, with the most recent years characterized by a drought. Farmers’ lives revolve around the weather and seasonal shifts. Because of the importance of weather to farming, it was another layer that was represented in the project. Weather is physically powerful, full of energy, and it can influence a person’s mood. Because of the energy in the weather, the layers echoing weather do so in an abstract style, where color and emotions set the mood of the painting.

Reference photographs were also used to accurately represent the sky’s colors.

Oil paint allowed for richness of color, such as the colors in nature, to be reflected onto the panels as well. The representational layers in the smaller 16” x 12” paintings of Orchard Memories (Memorias de la Huerta) (Fig. 4) are inserted between the abstract layers, sometimes not fully visible, though at times they are the top layer, making them completely clear. Conceptually, these were the snapshot memories of my home. Formally, the execution of this piece was based on an orchard, where each painting represented an individual tree with its own treatment, each painting row representing a planted tree row, each hung equally distant from one another as in diamond tree planting, so that all together they became one orchard piece.

The final exhibition consisted of seven oil paintings. In using oil paint as a medium, this allowed the layers painted to have depth and richness of color. The combination of abstract and representational painting styles reinforces the concept of the fading and clearness of memories. By using photography as a tool, I was able to capture

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images of my home as recalled in my memories, and give them renewed and timeless life as paintings.

Conclusion

No Quiero Que Se Vaya is the result of my process in recalling memories and experiences, including my family and my home in Northern California, and documenting them through paintings. This project was my attempt at understanding myself and identifying what has made me who I am today.

This project adds to contemporary Mexican American, Chicanx art and also to today’s representation of the young farming generation. It adds diversity to the American

Dream success stories and will hopefully serve as an inspiration to others in similar positions. These portraits give farmworkers the dignity and importance they deserve, and the right to be seen by society.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bose, Lilledeshan. “A Conversation on Chicano Art: Artist Jose Lozano and Collector

Armando Duron.” KCET. September 25, 2012. https://www.kcet.org/shows/

artbound/a-conversation-on-chicano-art-artist-jose-lozano-and-collector-

armando-duron.

Fendrich, Laurie. Why Painting Still Matters. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa

Educational Foundation, 2000.

Gallardo, Miguel E. “Chicano.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed February 1, 2019.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chicano.

Keller, Gary D., Arturo J. Aldama, Craig Smith, and Marilyn Szabo. Contemporary

Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education. 2 vols.

Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue, 2002.

Kim, Inga. “The Rise of the UFW.” UFW. April 3, 2017. https://ufw.org/the-rise-of-the-

ufw/.

Lippard, Lucy R. The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society. New

York: New Press, 1998.

“Los Four.” MCA. Accessed February 1, 2019. https://mcachicago.org/Publications/

Websites/West-By-Midwest/Research/Topics/Los-Four.

Romero, Dennis. “A Chicano Renaissance? A New Mexican-American Generation

Embraces the Term.” NBCNews. July 15, 2018.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/chicano-renaissance-new-mexican-

american-generation-embraces-term-n869846.

14

United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. State Data. Last

updated March 6, 2019. https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17854>.

15

MASTER’S EXHIBITION

JACKI HEADLEY UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

SPRING 2019

Plantar)” (Tierra Sin FIGURE 1. “Fallow Land 17

FIGURE 2. “Cherry Lady (Señora de las Cerezas)” 18

FIGURE 3. “Orchard Memories (Memorias de la Huerta)”

19

FIGURE 4. “Harvest Babies (Bebes de la Cosecha)”

20

FIGURE 5. “A Home (Un Hogar)”

21

FIGURE 6. “Playing in the Vegetable Garden (Jugando en la Hortaliza)”

22

FIGURE 7. “Loving Husband, Father, Son (Amado Esposo, Padre, Hijo)”

23