Study of Culture & Identity
How do we hold on to our culture while still integrating into a new one? How do we honor our roots while feeling so far away from them?
This body of work was created to explore themes of cultural identity and ownership. The Acapulco chair is deeply rooted in Mexican and Mayan culture and is a greatly appreciated fragment of Mexican culture. However, Western cultures have taken inspiration from the Mexican design and made huge profits for their own personal gain. As an artist with a Latin-American roots, it deeply affects me to see something so culturally mundane be turned into a symbol of class or status in the Western world. I remember my grandmother having a version of the Acapulco chair in her home in Merida, Venezuela, while I was growing up. Looking back at pictures of when my mother was a young girl I recognize those same chairs, making them at least 50 years old. The current price of the Acapulco chair in the Western market can range between $-$500 USD. The visuals I have created for this work pay homage to the chair’s roots in the city of Acapulco Mexico, and other South American cities.
Artist Biography
Patricia is currently based in Calgary, Alberta where she completed a BA in Psychology along with a minor in Visual Arts at the Univeristy of Calgary. She grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and would make yearly trips with her family to the mountainous city of Merida from which she has vivid memories of the colorful Acapulco chairs in the home of her grandmother’s courtyard.
This summer, she will also be participating in various arts markets across the city of Calgary!
Artist Statement: Legacy, Cultural Imprints, Tenderness, Inauthenticity
This body of work presents almost 50 prints produced using silkscreen printing, alongside 4 digitally printed images of the artist’s family. Using vibrant colors often found in the typical colorful towns of South America, the artist pays homage to the cultural roots of the Acapulco chair. The Acapulco chair is deeply rooted in Mexican and Mayan culture and is a greatly appreciated fragment of Mexican culture. However, time and time again, Western cultures have taken inspiration from the Mexican design and made huge profits for their own personal gain, turning something so culturally mundane into a symbol of high status. The exhibit explores themes of preciousness, intimacy, tenderness, and the roles they play within one’s cultural identity in regard to ownership of objects, such as the Acapulco chair’s habitation in Hispanic culture.