LXS JOVENES VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
VIRTUAL EXHIBIT SUMMER 2022
Lxs Jovenes Leadership Lab is a month-long leadership program where artists from 6th – 9th grade work on their artistic practices to intersect art and social justice. This summer our artist cohort from Lxs Jóvenes Leadership Lab chose to examine social justice issues from mental health, women’s rights, gender oppression, animal rights, domestic violence to identity. They did not shy away from creating art that engages and challenges its audience to reflect on our own internal bias and oppressions. The diversity of inspiration for each piece is also reflected in the mediums they chose. We can see artwork from clay to mixed media to digital and some even chose mediums they had never worked in before.
Not only did these artists get to cultivate new experiences while building community with one another but they also got to share their perspective of how our society needs to continue to grow, change and reflect.
Here are the artworks created by our Art Exhibition Summer 2022 Lxs Jovenes Leadership Lab participants.
Gender Roles
Stella Jackson
Medium – Digital
Artist Statement: The concept behind my art is that a lot of people throw around the phrase “Gender Roles” without realizing the harm it causes to people not only around them but also our society as a whole. The blue figure and the pictures around it represent how men are supposed to be the one that supports the family by bringing in almost all the income and working the most while men are also being pressured to not show emotion hence the phrase “Man Up” which means don’t show emotion or else you’re not truly a man.
The pink figure and the pictures behind it represent that for women gender roles tell them to stay at home and manage the household, care for the kids and care for their husband. However what people don’t talk about is that by enforcing and pushing these narrow minded and outdated gender roles ALWAYS create a dynamic to make women feel inferior and that can lead to some women believing and later becoming extremely toxic and influencing others as well. A lot of people, past and present , make women believe that they are nothing without they’re husband, that they have no other purpose in life than to get married, have kids and manage the household.
Then there’s the purple figure in the middle that represent the people who are gender non-conforming/Genderqueer and who are being told that they’re gender doesn’t exist. According to the people who have internalized these toxic gender roles, you have to be either male or female and that sex and gender are the same thing. People never truly realize how pushing their own self-destructive ideas onto others harms a whole spectrum of people and can make them feel even worse about themselves and they’re identity.
Domestic Violence
Nyx Boone-Davenport
Medium – Digital
Artist Statement: My artwork is about the topic of domestic abuse and violence within family settings. It can be interpreted as violence towards a lover or a family member as abuse can happen in any situation. The theme is more of a question towards abuser figures “if you care about them so much why would you hurt them?” My inspiration behind this project is the knowledge that there are so many people trapped in awful situations like the one shown. My motivation for the piece is the desire to bring awareness to the situation of people in abusive households.
There are a few details within the piece such as the split and “bleeding” heart shapes on both the abuser figure and the victim which are meant to represent the emotional bond that has been severed by the abusive situation, bleeding out what was lost in the violence, the claim and blatant lie of caring for one another. This and several other details like the pink marks make it clear that the emotional bond has been reduced to essentially nothing, just a false depiction of love.
Surrounded
Mariana Botello
Medium – Mixed media, canvas, acrylic paint, collage, clay, paper
Artist Statement: The theme behind my art is women’s rights. The piece shows how even though women are constantly surrounded by challenges and facing difficult things we can be resilient and show our true colorful selves.
In the collage around the border you can see pictures and articles of women struggling for equal pay and opportunities, for the right to vote, or just for a safe and comfortable environment; rights that everyone deserves.
I was inspired to make this art piece because there are still many biases against women. For example, in adulthood, men are often chosen for positions of power over women. Not to mention how in some jobs women are paid less for working just as hard if not harder. Another example is that throughout childhood, girls in this U.S. society are being pressured to “be a lady” or be perfect, they feel like being skinny means being pretty, which makes many girls feel insecure about themselves and or develop eating disorders. I want this artwork to convey that all women are women and deserve equal rights, no matter your weight or if you’re “unlady-like”, or if you’re a Black woman, Latina woman, Trans woman, Asian woman, White woman, etc. and everyone deserves the right to feel confident in themselves.
55 Cents
Mia Leal
Medium – Mixed media, collage and embroidery
Artist Statement: My artwork is about the wage gap between Latina’s and other genders and races. The theme is that Latina’s only get paid 55 cents compared to white men who get a dollar. The idea for this project was to protest the wage gap as it affects my family right now and in the future. My mom inspired me to do Latina’s rights specifically because those rights affect me and my family directly. When I was doing research I found out how big the wage gap was between latina women and white men. Hence the name of the artwork.
The materials that I used were images I researched, vintage magazines, canvas, cloth, and embroidery floss. First, I cut out a 12” by 13.5” piece of canvas. Next, I started to compose and paste pictures onto the canvas with a sealant and cut out the letters from a magazine. Finally, I embroidered flowers onto the fabric.
Fur Farms
Robbin Johns and Addy Frey
Medium – Clay, canvas, graphite and paint
Artist Statement: The concept behind our art is animal abuse of foxes and mental health. The main way that foxes are abused is called “Fox control methods” which include lethal baiting, trapping, shooting, den fumigation, den destruction, and exclusion fencing. Lethal baiting is a poisoned bait trap, the poison used for this trap is called 1080. Exclusion fencing is fences restricting foxes into one area, preventing them from attacking domestic livestock. About 80,000 foxes are killed a year, mainly from game-keepers.
We were inspired by foxes and fur farms killing animals for their fur because we are passionate about animal rights. Cruelty to animals sometimes encompasses inflicting harm. Look at the effects of seeing animal abuse on childrens’ psychological health in a context where they already witness intimate partner violence. Children who are exposed to domestic violence are at risk of psychological problems, and yet some children are surprisingly resilient. Having animals in our society helps your mental health, like anxiety and depression. When hunters and fur farms kill off these animals our mental health as a society is negatively impacted. We are hoping this will change your mind about hunting foxes & other animals and to consider thinking about how animals contribute to the wellness of our mental health.
Evil Eye
Ailani Peralta Quinteros, Aylin Cuevas and Lizbeth Tepayotl.
Medium – Clay and acrylic paint.
Artist Statement: The concept behind this piece is to discover the meaning of the evil eye. We focused more on researching and finding the history of the evil eye because we wanted to understand the roots behind it. We were inspired by the popular symbol that people wear on jewelry and we decided to make our own cups of clay with an evil eye as a twist on this popular culture trend.
To make this piece, first, we took clay and sculpted the cups with an evil eye. After they dried, we painted them. Next we did coats of sealant so it would look shiny. We intentionally painted them different colors because each color has different meanings. Red signifies courage, light blue means health and white means a fresh start. We feel proud about how our artwork came out because this was our first time working together collaboratively.
