Ch’ixi: Things can be and not be at the same time

Medium: Installation with Film

Dimensions: 42"w x 29.5"h x 19"d

A sex symbol becomes a thing

Screen print on mixed medium

Dimensions: 18”w x 60”h

Raquel Jo Tejada

(AKA Raquel Welch)

Ch’ixi (origin of the Aymara language) is creating an image formed by several black and white spots that are unified for perception purposes but remain separate. This concept can be applied in a decolonial feminist theory as it represents the permanent struggle in our subjectivity between the indigenous and European. Images, more than words themselves, have the power to construct critical narratives that can un-frame different forms of contemporary colonialism. This new work investigates how the notion of Latina feminism is rooted in the social, cultural, and political within its historical period. The emphasis on this installation is on how historically Latinas have used material femininity and female sexuality as a method of advancement for women's equity to overcome systems of oppression. The installation highlights how the sex symbol Raquel Welch (Jo Raquel Tejada) of bi-racial Bolivian descent subverts the stereotypical classic victim of exploitation of the patriarchal movie industry by arousing, managing, and profiting from male desire. The concept includes how norms of sexuality play a role in negotiating complex identities (race/ethnicity, culture, class and gender) and permeate all aspects of experience. As contemporary society now appears to be more accepting in celebrating women's sexuality, justified by sexual autonomy, the work questions if it can flourish when colonialism, oppression, and patriarchy continues to exist.

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Cucarachalandia Ambulantes

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Nieves Orozco Ofrenda, 2023 National Museum of Mexican Art