Cristina Cárdenas
The ASU Hispanic Research Center Presents: Teaching & Visual Thinking Strategies with "La Niña de los Espejos" & "Yo Soy"
The ASU Hispanic Research Center Presents: Teaching & Visual Thinking Strategies with "La Niña de los Espejos" & "Yo Soy"
Unlike many Mexican-born Chicana/o artists, Cristina Cárdenas did not relocate to the United States as a child but remained in Mexico into early adulthood. Her artistic education included studies in watercolor, drawing, and etching at the Instituto Allende and coursed in architecture at the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente. In 1980, she received her B.A. in painting from the Universidad de Guadalajara. After moving to the U.S. in the mid-1980s, she studied print-making at the University of Arizona in Tucson, earning her M.F.A. in 1990.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the HRC commissioned two lithographs by Cristina Cárdenas: "Yo Soy" (1999) and "La Niña de los Espejos" (2005).
When Cárdenas relocated to Tucson in 1986, she did so to distance herself from what she considers the patriarchal society of her homeland. Her work is in large part autobiographical and introspective, an appraisal of personal identity and self-image. Cárdenas gives women, who are frequently the protagonists of her work, a permanent and positive voice. Often, these women protagonists in her work serve as embodiments of strength, innocence, subjugation, and courage. Cárdenas acknowledged the Mexican artist José Clemente Orozco as a major influence in her work; this is evident in her neofigurative, exuberantly expressionist painting style, as well as her bold brushwork and palette. And, like the Mexican muralists, as well as U.S. artists such as Luis Jiménez, her paintings embrace her ethnic background and cultural heritage.
In an effort to promote and celebrate the fine art of Mexican American artists in Arizona and around the country, the Hispanic Research Center commissioned several Mexican American artists, including Cárdenas, to create a set of lithographs. From those commissions, Cárdenas created "Yo Soy" in 1999 and "La Niña de los Espejos" in 2005. These two lithographs remain a vital part of the HRC collection of Mexican American and Chicana/o art.
Here at the Hispanic Research Center, we are inspired by Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), a visual and discussion-based facilitation method that seeks to foster collaborative, inclusive, community-building dialogue grounded in the visual arts.
Below, we draw on VTS and the pedagogical method known as "What's going on in this picture?" to explore two lithographs by Cristina Cárdenas: "La Niña de los Espejos/The Girl of the Mirrors" (2005) and "Yo Soy/Myself" (1999).
To begin, watch this video introduction to "What's going on this picture?"
Then, encourage students to look closely at these two lithographs by Cárdenas and together answer the following three questions:
Respond to student comments with paraphrasing and affirmation of their observations. To extend the discussion, students can individually write a "blog post" that summarizes their responses. Students can then read each others' posts and reply to their peer's observations.
Following the group discussion, share information about Cristina Cárdenas , including her life story and the additional resources available to supplement this lesson . Students are encouraged to consider how learning her backstory might influence the ways in which they see "La Niña de los Espejos" and "Yo Soy." Next, share the image analysis of ASU art historian , Dr. JoAnna Reyes , shown in the following section.
Instructions: Navigate through Dr. JoAnna Reyes' answers to "What's going on in this picture?" by scrolling through the lithograph below.
Be sure to click "unmute background audio" so you can hear Dr. Reyes' voice. As you zoom in and out of the image, you can always click on the image itself to see it in its entirety.
Instructions: As you did with the lithography above, navigate through Dr. Reyes' analysis of Cristina Cardenas' "Yo Soy" by scrolling through the lithograph below. Be sure to click "unmute background audio" so you can hear Dr. Reyes' voice.
Primary sources related to Cristina Cárdenas' artist practice and relationship with the HRC from the HRC archive. Scroll through the resources below or click here to view and download these resources.
This project was built using using ArcGIS StoryMaps and with support from the ASU Humanities Institute.
The opening text under "About: Cristina Cárdenas" is borrowed from volume one of the art book Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education , which was published in 2002 by Bilingual Review Press of the ASU Hispanic Research Center.
Thank you to the HRC team, particularly Anita Huízar-Hernández and Santiago Morrato, for their insights and collaboration.