By
Vanessa Francis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA alum Cristina C‡rdenas borrows the images of her Mexican cultural heritage in her
A Mexican-American immigrant originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, UA alumna Cristina C‡rdenas' artwork resurrects her own cultural history through images borrowed from her past.
Eleven of C‡rdenas' paintings, as well as five of her black-and-white self-portraits, will be on display at the Joseph Gross Gallery in the University of Arizona Fine Arts Complex. The exhibit, "a flor de piel," will open today.
Among the featured pieces are two of the artist's later works titled "Santa Perversa" and "Santa Agave." These paintings, C‡rdenas said, were inspired by two of her self-portraits, which she photographed while taking a class at Pima Community College.
"Santa Agave," as well as some of her other paintings, includes a wings motif often featured in her artwork that C‡rdenas said symbolizes her emigration from Mexico to study in the U.S. The painting depicts herself nude with wings composed of the agave plant, a blue-flowered cactus.
Wings are also featured in the paintings "Queriendo Volar" and "Caragando A Ella."
"This painting ("Caragando A Ella") is about the time when I left Mexico to study at the UA in '86," she said. "It shows myself and my daughter Frida (at age two)...me carrying her to the U.S."
C‡rdenas draws upon her culture even when selecting the type of paper to use.
"It's called amate paper, which is hand-made paper made from tree bark," she said. "It's very thin, fragile. It is the same kind of paper the Aztecs used during pre-Colombian times in Mexico."
In addition to this traditional material, C‡rdenas utilizes various media in her artwork, including crayons, watercolor pencils, colored powder and gouche paint, a popular water-based paint used in Mexico and Europe, C‡rdenas said.
Her flexibility in this regard makes C‡rdenas hesistant to label herself. She said she does not describe herself as a painter or a muralist, since she works within both genres.
C‡rdenas said her interest in murals began when she was attending the UA to earn her Master of Fine Arts in printing in 1990.
"When I was a graduate student here, I worked with a student who studied with Jose Orozco, which is one of the biggest mural painters," she said.
After that experience, she said she began painting murals herself.
Before attending the UA, C‡rdenas earned a Bachelor of Arts in painting from the University of Guadalajara in 1980.
Her interest in art reaches back before her undergraduate years. C‡rdenas said she had always wanted to be a painter "ever since before (she) was a teen."
"I am the only painter in my family," she added.
Jana Minka, director of the Joseph Gross Gallery, said C‡rdenas' exhibit is placed in a prominent time slot since she is a UA graduate.
"We wanted to highlight someone who had been here," she said.
