Angela Ordonez
Dr. Doris Cacoilo
ART 263
November 29, 2023
Final Intervention
The sociopolitical issue of my choice is immigration. My parents, my siblings, and I immigrated approximately 6 years ago, however, it is not as easy or simple to get used to the type of life, culture, climate, etc. as many think it is. On the contrary, it is very very difficult, personally, I have gotten used to it but I have not adapted, that is, I accept and can handle the idea of getting up every day and doing my daily activities, but I do not feel at home.
Being an immigrant is very complicated, it means learning a language from scratch, paying very very high prices compared to our own country, getting used to very high temperatures whether hot or cold, and trying to fit into the culture of others, among other things. When we immigrated, both my parents, my siblings and I suffered. My parents had to go from office jobs to very hard and tiring jobs such as construction and factories, they had to move away from their family without knowing if perhaps it was the last time they would see each other, they had to look for a not expensive but a comfortable apartment until we were able to establish ourselves economically. On the other hand, my sister and I did not understand our classes, we could not communicate with our classmates, doing homework was very difficult for us, and we used to feel completely lonely. I am talking about changes that seriously affect people psychologically!
However, I know that my family and I are neither the first nor the last immigrants who are going through strong challenges, but there are many more people like us.
Therefore, I decided to do a project covering this sociopolitical issue. Before I start writing what my project is about, I would like to start giving credit to the projects and readings from our Art class that inspired me to do this.
First, the readings we have done by Kimberly Drew, Susan Sontag, and Shaun Leonardo, the book The Art of Activism, as well as the NJCU galleries and the videos watched in class, all of them have a little bit of inspiration in my project.
Kimberly Drew, for example, inspired me in the way that her purpose was to inform something that was important to her, in her case the art of black people "I didn't want Black art to be a negligible factor. I didn't want Black art to be exterminated. I saw it happening in my art history classes, and I just had to do something to build a history online.” page 15. In other words, Kimberly wanted them to recognize a factor that was significant to her. In this case, in the same way, immigration is a fundamental issue for me that I would like many more to consider. Shaun Leonardo and Susan inspired me in a way in which in their readings they mention that art was not something that they saw developing it professionally but they are a reflection that every effort has its reward, and this is also a message that my project in one way or another also addresses.
The Art of Activism book helped me develop my creativity. "Our creativity thrives when it can escape the chatter of our mind or the chatter of other people. This can happen when we're going out of town, or relaxing in the shower. When we can turn off the distractions and quiet our minds, it's like a new channel opens up for creative thought" page 52. The idea of my project did not come to my mind in one fell swoop, but I was lying in bed ready to go to sleep and one more idea came to me that I could incorporate into my project and I wrote it down in the notes on my cell phone so I could remember it. I also followed the advice in the book, and in my room with great silence, I began to create my project.
The videos seen in class such as nail art or the interventions of young people from Quito, Ecuador who correct graffiti also helped inspire me since in addition to making the public participate, my project also includes something that the public can take away with them.
Finally, the NJCU gallery was also part of my creativity. Having seen so many drawings and ways of representing art inspired me to draw, but at the same time make such a drawing have a meaning behind it. "The heart holds memory. The heart knows pain and healing. The heart beats life into all that lives. The heart inspires. The heart is the drum of humanity. The heart is where creativity moves through us all, it compels us to move and read into life. The heart is where our ancestors live and inspire us." by Tejin Ikeda.
Below I will describe my project:
I decided to create a poster with several factors on it. The first factor was a drawing, the drawing is of a girl wrapped in her native flag praying and with a tear in her eye, around her I drew eyes with different flags inside them, and each one shedding a tear. The girl's drawing represents her pain at having left her country and praying for the changes and challenges she has to face in a country that is not hers, and the eyes refer to love but at the same time the suffering of leaving her home country.
The second factor, which is the method of interaction with others, are colored cards where I ask the audience to take a piece of paper and write the greatest difficulties that as immigrants they have had to experience and how they would have liked to be welcomed by this country.
The third factor is a message that people should carry with them. The messages include thoughtful and motivational quotes for immigrants to continue fighting for their goals and reminding them that they are capable of anything. I also wrote quotes for those who have not had to experience immigration to remind and encourage them to be kind to newcomers and offer help to those who believe they need it.
The main message of my project which I want to convey to everyone is to be kind, not to judge, and to accept immigrants since the changes for them are hard. According to an article published by "Avance psicologos" the main effects that immigrants suffer psychologically are unwanted loneliness, anxiety due to lack of social support, search for approval, and discomfort adjusting to the values of others. Some examples of how I would have liked to feel when I first arrived is not to have been excluded, to not feel inferior to anyone, to not be made fun of for not speaking English, and to have someone offer me help when I needed it. But, no one did anything I expected when I came to the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiQ39t2v6u8
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