Q & A with Hold Us Tight artist Alondra Garza
From the artist’s website:
Alondra M Garza is a Tejana/Tex-Mex artist. She was born on the Mexican side at the Rio Grande Valley borderlands of Mexico and South Texas and obtained dual citizenship as a Mexican American. Garza received a BFA at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with honors and an MFA at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Her work has been exhibited internationally across the U.S., Mexico, and Italy. This includes a Solo Exhibition at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Group exhibitions at YAG/Garage in Italy, Minneapolis Institute of Art and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis MN, The Museum of Fine Arts in Brownsville, TX, The International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen, TX, and murals in Mexico.
Tell us a bit about your Personal Practice- how do you conceptualize your work? Where do you find inspiration?
My artwork embodies my personal life perspective, the dysfunctions and dualities of a Bi-national, Bi-cultural, and Bi-lingual Tejana/Chicana identity and the issues behind it -pain, belonging, feelings, struggles, opposition, fights, cultural differences, traditional versus liberal, rebelling, feminism, cultural loss, race, self-esteem, physical appearance, acceptance, and inclusion. I portray my concept by using body language, facial expressions, objects, shadows, and nature.
I find inspiration by experimenting with materials, by thinking, over-thinking, and reflecting on my current feelings. If I feel lonely, I think about which material will help me feel less lonely and excited about, and which materials will portray these feelings.
What drew you to the concept of Hold Us Tight?
The concept of Hold Us Tight felt like something that relates to my work. When I am dealing with all these mixed feelings and emotions, when I am home-sick or dealing with culture shock, what holds me? My loved ones, my art, inspiration, and honestly changing my hair. In this exhibition, I wanted to show the things that hold me and their dualities- the positive and the negative sides.
Tell me about your work with this exhibition. We're displaying your pieces, Crying Eyes and Mama & Hermana.
Crying Eyes is a work about BIPOC feeling depressed and crying about the struggles that they have to face every day while feeling like a ghost (invisible). At the same time, crying is good for the soul, crying is showing bravery and strength, and expressing your feelings helps you hold yourself together.
Mama y Hermana is a very personal work. It is a picture of my little sister, my mother, and I in the early 2000's. My mom would usually dress up my sister and me with the same outfits, but not this day. This picture was taken years before my little brother was born, and even more years before my dad passed away. So much has changed for us ever since, and this picture makes me think of the things we did not know were coming to us, the good and the bad ones. Relating to the theme of this exhibition, my mom is holding us tight in this picture and she still does that until this day. They are part of the most important people in my life, I would not be anything without them. Hoy en día no sería nada sin ellas.