Mi Vida
“I am Prospero - the magician, the puppeter. I create the drama. These images are moments of another time & place. They are my spirits.”
— Prospero
I’ve always loved the magic of photography & creating art from light. While I was at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles I turned the camera on myself & started to explore my Chicana roots & fascination with Day of the Dead folk art. I created another world in my prints by scrathing the surface & adding paints, glitter & ribbons.
Untitled (Day of the Dead)
My Guardian Angel
Cholita (Lettering by Gajin Fujita)
Dance with the Dead
Dreaming of the Moon
Showtime & Tongue Tied
Chicano: American with Mexican Roots
Tejano: Texan born with Mexican Roots
I’m a 100% Chicana, Tex-Mex lady. My mother was first generation born in La Feria, Texas. Growing up her experiences were speaking Spanish in public was looked down upon & passing was good. In our household English was spoken since my father was a mutli generation Tex-Mex. To be called Chicano used to be an insult, to remind you that you are more American than Mexican especially if you didn’t speak Spanish. In the 70’s a Chicano movement grew & people were proud of their roots as they live & raised their families in America & didn’t want to be treated as second class citizens because of their roots.
Kids want to fit in so growing up I never spoke Spanish & only understood what our Mamacita would say at home. My Spanish was BAD & that lead to embarrasment as I grew older. Even when I try to learn I get overwhelmed & panic when speaking to someone & that’s what inspired Showtime & Tongue Tied.
America is a country of immigrants & I believe many nationalites, multi generations feel the same way about their mother’s tongue.
Magico
Estrella
The Pink Mask
Altars Redefined | Pico Rivera Center for the Arts 2004
My love for photography includes documenting moments & after I graduated Otis I started photographing the vibrant Latino culture & Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Los Angeles.