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.