Arte

Through the process of colonization, countless pre-Hispanic buildings were built over or used as materials for Spanish cathedrals and churches. This was used as a method to control and convert the indigenous people throughout the Americas. The examples referenced include the Templo Mayor and Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, the Cholula Pyramid and the Sanctuary of the Virgen de Los Remedios, and Kinich Kakmo and the Convent of San Antonio. 

In my art, I reflect on the erasure, loss, and reconstruction of not only buildings but cultures, in Mexico. Because I chose to focus on these effects I worked with Vellum in order to create a transparent image symbolic of erasure. Rather than drawing each building on a separate page, I drew them on the front and back of a single page to represent the simultaneous combination and separateness of these buildings, cultures, and groups of people. I created the stop motion with similar ideas in mind, allowing both forms of the buildings to exist at once. 

Some of the questions I’ve begun to investigate through this project include: How do you reconstruct a building that was completely deconstructed centuries ago? And what does it mean to reconstruct it? How do the experiences of these buildings reflect on people, and how do the experiences of people reflect on them? What does it mean to decolonize a building? The process of creating these pieces has led to a more profound understanding of my own identity and history and helped me to question where I stand in this narrative as a Mexican-American woman.