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| Trinity II 18”x14” Screen print on museum board | |||
| My work is about my life as a Chicano, my struggles with religion and tradition after losing my mother at the age of five, traveling with my father on a journey that led me to attend twenty-five public schools and living in seven states and two countries along the way, and lastly being a veteran of the U.S. military. | |||
| Growing up, one of the highest achievements besides graduating high school or getting a job was to be revered as “El Gallo Negro”, the black rooster. In my barrio, El Gallo Negro was a person who was revered by the elders as a thug or a trouble maker, but through the eyes of the kids growing up in that neighborhood, El Gallo Negro was revered as a hero, a person of great fortitude and strength, a champion. “Ganas” is what we called it. However, now looking back at the barrios where I grew up and the lives of all the Gallo Negros I met, their lives now read like a Greek tragedy, a fast rise followed by a constant fall full of pain and continuous struggle. While we lived in San Fernando, California, I learned of my uncle’s triumphs and legend as El Gallo Negro in our barrio. I saw murals painted on the side of tienditas, neighborhood stores, which depicted him as el Mero Mero, the big bad ass of the neighborhood. My uncle’s tenure, much like all other Gallo Negros was short lived. He constantly struggled with religion after taking lives in Vietnam and reportedly being molested as a child within the church. So, the time between his struggle with the church and state came to no surprise that his anger, aspiration and confrontations would lead him to rise as El Gallo Negro. | |||
| My imagery aims to depict the struggles that are shared by many Chicanos. A reluctance to obey and to not obey religious and cultural tradition, acceptance as a people in having a recognized cultural identity, and to change the way in which Chicanos are viewed, perceived, and depicted in popular culture. |