the new American Gothic. // artist unknown, feel free to tag and tell me who painted this.
This is by Mexican American artist Crieselda Vasquez. Her words on this painting is as follows.
“The two most important people in my life, my parents, are also the two who motivated me to develop such a strong concept. When my parents pose for these paintings, their faces are reduced to extremely raw and somehow vulnerable expressions. Sadly, they strive to be invisible every day. They don’t have to pretend to illustrate the invisible. They have dealt with constant rejection, suspicion and fear so long, that it seems now that it comes naturally to them. I strive to capture how their expressions deliver that sense of tiredness, resignation, and quiet acceptance. It seems relevant to show that underneath all the politicization and undeserved labeling this community receives, these are regular people just like all of us. In the long tradition of immigrants that come to the United States, they have made homes here and they are just trying to live a simple life with a bit of security and hopefulness for their children."
[ID: a mexican american man and woman, both middle aged, posed and painted in a way that evokes the painting american gothic. they are in simple but well-cared-for, unstained working clothes, standing in front of a red chevrolet astro van with the word 'hi' and an '=(' face finger-written in the dirt on the rear window. the man is holding a farming hoe straight and tall wearing a complicated, stoic expression. the woman, standing half a step behind him and angled toward him, wears an equally complicated expression, hers a half-smile. she holds a red bucket with cleaning supplies. both figures have work-worn hands in compositional emphasis; the man's hand is clenched around the hoe, and the woman's arm veins are protruding up from where she's holding the handle of the bucket. a strong sunlight casts emphasis on their faces and shadows. End ID.]
