Oneiric Latinidad – Dreaming Latin@ Identity One Image at a Time

For the second Latina/o Studies Association Conference in Pasadena, California, I would like discuss how contemporary visual artists create layered and, at times, polemic dreamscapes that question any sort of homogeneous... [ view full abstract ]

For the second Latina/o Studies Association Conference in Pasadena, California, I would like discuss how contemporary visual artists create layered and, at times, polemic dreamscapes that question any sort of homogeneous representation of US Latin@ identity. Specifically, I analyze the work of the print-maker Enrique Chagoya in relation to the photomontages of photographer, Martina Lopez in hopes of exposing the unique ways in which dreams deliberate who Latin@s are, were, and may be.

My recent studies of Chagoya have focused on his Illegal Alien guides that appeal to an appreciation of the role that dreams and images have in disturbing notions of Latin@ identity in the late 20th and the early 21st Centuries. In works such as “Escape from Fantasylandia: An Illegal Aliens Survival Guide,” or “Illegal Aliens Guide to Critical Theory” Chagoya alienates his spectators with fantastical images that reference pre-Columbian history, Cuban truck rafts, and Campbell’s soup in the context of Latin@ ontology. The resulting works of art provide innumerable suggestions of how viewers could approach Latina/o identity from multiple time periods. What I look at has more to do with how his work creates meaning and less to do with any definitive interpretations of Latin@ identity.

Chagoya’s chaotic prints complement the unconventional photomontages of Martina Lopez. Whereas Chagoya creates macrocosms of Latin@ dream reality, Lopez chooses a more intimate approach to oneiric identity. Lopez’s work, especially in the Memory Reference series, juxtaposes ethnically ambiguous 19th Century portraiture with surreal landscapes that speak of the dreamscapes hidden from typical portraits. Again, my methodology is one that prefers to analyze Lopez’s creations in terms of structure so as not to limit debate with forced interpretation. One image at a time, viewers and participants at the second Latina/o Studies conference can deliberate the value of Latin@ collages in our disciplines.