Women Speaking for the Minority
December 14, 2009
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Judith A. Baca was born in 1948 and continues to be a prominent female figure in art, especially murals. She inaugurated the Citywide Mural Project in Los Angeles, and she founded and currently sponsors the Social and Public Art Resource Center. In 1976 she began her creation of the Great Wall of Los Angeles as a representation of “a giant scar across the land which served to further divide an already divided city…Just as young Chicanos tattoo battle scars on their bodies, Great Wall of Los Angeles is a tattoo on a scar where the river once ran” (Benton 458).
A Vision of the Future Without Fear. Judy Baca. 1986-2003.
This mural is one segment of the “The Great Wall of Los Angeles” which symbolizes the history of an interracial struggle, focusing on the roots of racial conflict.
Respect Your Perspective. Judy Baca. 1985.
This billboard mural has two parts: this side stating “Respect your perspective,” and another side proclaiming “Be skeptical of the spectacle.” The purpose of the billboard, which was funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education, is to warn the viewer of media propaganda and reinforce independent thinking.
Dead Homeboy Killed by a Placa. Judy Baca. 1974.
As wood stain on paper, this work portrays the aftermath of a mural crew member who has been murdered.
MAYA LIN:
Maya Ying Lin, an American woman of Chinese descent, was only 21 years old during te creation of her most famous piece. As a Yale University architect graduate, won a national competition with her design of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial.
The Civil Rights Memorial. Maya Lin. 1989.
This stone water table incorporates people killed during that time, a brief history, and a quote from the book of Amos by the assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “We are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.’”
LISA FIFIELD:
Lisa Fifield, born in 1957 of Iroquois-Oneida descent, is a painter of traditions and beliefs of Native American peoples. Many of her canvases are based on the results of Wounded Knee, but Ghost Dancers Ascending is her recreation of the release of Native American spirits after their deaths. Believing their clothing was impenetrable by bullets, the Native Americans inevitably were slaughtered.
Birch Bark Woman. Lisa Fifield.
Ghost Dancers Ascending. Lisa Fifield. 1995.
This watercolor shows the spirits rising above the earth after the massacre at Wounded Knee.
Within the works of these three women (Judy Baca, Maya Lin, Lisa Fifield) the stories and sorrows of the minorities are revealed. With all three women being of a minority descent, it would seem as though the public could more easily relate to their works. Their creations are a way of making a conscious effort to pass along tradition and history, as well as exposing the grievances of the minorities.
Judy Baca’s A Vision of the Future Without Fear has several murals, but the one depicted here shows sad women of different backgrounds watching a man begin a quest into the unknown. Just as races come closer to equality, the scary and unknown is revealed. This character traveling into that unknown is a representation of the journey that must be made in order to achieve the desirable. Similarly, Baca’s Respect Your Perspective is a reassurance to minorities that they do have a clear and bright future; it’s simply behind the clutter and propoganda of society. The African-American girl is cleaning away to clutter to reveal that bright and opportunistic future. With any struggle, there will also be losses, and Baca makes this clear in her Dead Homeboy Killed by a Placa. A 17 year-old boy is murdered on the side of the street and left to die.
Maya Lin is an architect, but she still successfully unveils the emotions behind any conflict in history. In her Civil Rights Memorial, she uses symbolism, quotes, and history to show the meaning behind the memorial. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s biblical quote, “We are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream,” appears to be the base of the rest of the memorial. The disk is a water fountain, hence the reference to water, and who better to quote than the late MLK Jr? On the disk are names of those killed in the fight for civil and equal rights during that time in history.
Lisa Fifield is from Native American ancestry, and she paints of what she knows. Her depiction of Birchbark Woman reveals the Native American appreciation, understanding and traditions of respecting Mother Earth as their home. In addition to tradition, Fifield also focuses on the losses that Native Americans took during the struggle over land in the Americas. In Ghost Dancers Ascending, she is showing a happy moment in lives of late Native Americans even though they have just faced the gravest slaughter.
Not only are these three incredible artists women, but they speak for the minority through personal perspective. There is no greater effect on the public than that of those who have suffered or lost telling the story as they felt and experienced it.
source: Benton, Janetta Rebold and Robert DiYanni. Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Volume 2. 2008.
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