With its binational focus on the San Diego/Tijuana region, Espacios & Lines, SAN’s current temporary exhibition, features the artwork of 16 artists who convey the design and art philosophies of our shared region. So, who better to speak to this Hispanic Heritage Month than some of the artists? Below we ask how they identify among the many different experiences and labels within the collective Hispanic community in the U.S., and how their heritage influences their art.
Irene Monarrez
IG: @Irene.monarrez.3
See her art here
How do you identify?
I categorize myself as an artist of Hispanic origins with a binational trajectory influenced by both cultures.
How has your heritage influenced your art?
For me, art is a reflection of its time and society, which is also a compromise for the artist. As such, my work is immersed in this compromise and with a strong Hispanic influence, where the inequities and scarcities of women’s rights and minorities are expressed.
David Mont
IG: @davidmontvirgen
See his art here
How do you identify?
I deeply feel my Mexican heritage in my blood and heart. Despite often being told that I don't look Mexican enough, navigating the multitude of labels has been challenging. I embrace every aspect of my identity and redefine these labels to create my unique one: David Mont. I define myself on my own terms, honoring and celebrating my Hispanic heritage in all its facets.
How has your heritage influenced your art?
Growing up between two cities in a “border life” provided me with a unique perspective. I often felt caught between being not Mexican enough and not American enough, feeling like I was in a limbo between two worlds, “Ni de aquí, ni de allá”. However, I’ve come to realize that I embody both cultures fully, I was always in the right place. This realization allows me to appreciate the richness of my traditions and express myself in unique ways, deeply influencing my art in a totally new way.
Claudia Rodriguez-Biezunski
IG: @SewLoka
See her art here
How do you identify?
I identify as Chicana.
How has your heritage influenced your art?
Both of my parents immigrated from Guadalajara, MX in the early 1980s, and settled in San Fernando, CA, where I was eventually born. They both tried hard to raise my brothers and sisters like normal American kids, but I always knew I was different. The life they left behind in Mexico was still a part of me, and I didn’t want to ever let that go. I tried my best to fit in, but I was always the odd one out. Too brown for some and too Americanized for others; part of me felt like I needed to pick a team, but I didn’t even know who I was yet. The textile art I create today is an expression of these feelings of confusion and belonging surrounding my Mexican-American identity. All of my creations incorporate symbols and motifs from both sides of the border and my intention is to show others, and myself, that I do not need to pick a team, I am Mexican and American and I am cool with that. Through my art, I am finally able to accept and celebrate my blended Chicana identity.
Francisco Palomares
IG: @palomaresblvd
See his art here
How do you identify?
I embrace all the labels because no single term fully captures who I am. Chicano, Mexican American, and Latino all represent different facets of my identity, each holding significance in the various spaces I navigate, from academic institutions, Fine Arts, and the U.S. Census.
How has your heritage influenced your art?
My art is a reflection of my Mexican-American experience in the United States. I blend the traditions of my Mexican heritage with the American culture I grew up in. Everyday items like piñatas, pan dulce, and cleaning supplies become the subjects of my oil paintings. The neighborhood of East LA, where I grew up, often appears as the backdrop in my work. Through my art, I aim to celebrate and highlight the people and places that are often overlooked and unseen—street vendors, public servants, and domestic workers. By portraying these subjects in the style of old Renaissance paintings, I seek to change the conversation, uplift the immigrant community I grew up in, and share a story that goes beyond contemporary portrayals.
Becky Guttin
IG: @BeckyGuttin_
See her art here
How do you identify?
Roots are very important. We need to know from where we come from to understand and know who we are. Some values, images, and memories that we get and see since we are in this world, stay within ourselves for a lifetime. My four grandparents were born abroad, in Poland, Latvia, and Belgium. My parents were both Mexican. My dad was born in Veracruz, my mother in Mexico City. I was also born in Mexico, and so were my three children. I grew up multiculturally. My journey started before I was born. It’s like a collective memory. I identify myself as a proud Mexican-American Jewish woman.
How has your heritage influenced your art?
My art is definitely influenced by this mix of cultures. There are several things that are similar in traditions or values and at the same time many differences. My purpose is to use, recover, and recycle waste material. In my work I underline the contrast between materials, each of which have their own cultural and spiritual content. This contrast, as well as the elements that conform to it and what they symbolize, are very significant to my work. I show the truth of each material, they are natural. Neither their color nor the traces left by time on them are covered up. They each maintain their own presence. On one hand, I use natural organic materials, handmade and household objects, and on the other, processed metals, acrylic, and glass, representing technological advances. All the objects I work with are like articles that contain historical records of everyday life. I seek to establish an association by contrasting the rational and the irrational, the emotive. My art deals with thought and mediates between the inner and outer world.