Art: The tool to express
What is art to you? Is art your release? Is it a hobby? Is how you make a living? Is it how you express yourself?
From the steps of the Texas Capitol to the second annual Women’s March in Washington DC, the work of artist Yocelyn Riojas has made appearances at protests across the country.
Yocelyn Riojas, a 26-year-old Texas-based Latinx artist, created My dreams are not illegal. This one of her most popular illustrations. She hopes the message is just the beginning of a new wave of “resistance art” that rallies against the anti-immigration efforts of the Trump administration. It’s an artistic movement led by those connected to Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and other undocumented immigrants—not created by unaffected big-name artists and corporations.
While the Texas-based artist began her career studying animation, it was the lack of representation of brown women like her that prompted her to illustrate her own culture. It took all of two hours for Yocelyn to fully conceptualize, illustrate, and share the image of the Afro-Latinx woman, a representation of the most vulnerable and innocent of undocumented immigrants covered by the program for My dreams are not illegal. These are people who were brought to the U.S. with no choice in the matter, who often didn’t know they were undocumented until later in life, a decision made by parents to shield their children from the fearful, isolating realities of growing up with such knowledge.
As a granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and the daughter of first-generation migrant workers turned attorneys, Yocelyn began incorporating Latinx culture and social issues into her work while earning her undergraduate degree in Dallas. Her career as a “resistance artist” was solidified last summer, during a protest in Austin against anti-sanctuary city legislation.
“For us, we’re trying to empower our own people of color to go out there and be more involved, because they have the power to influence change.” -Yocelyn
Yocelyn uses her art as a tool of resistance. How will you use yours?
It starts with one idea, next is bringing it to life. Adobe Creative Cloud features the entire collection of Adobe desktop and mobile apps, from essentials like Illustrator CC to next-generation tools like Adobe XD CC. Included are built-in templates to jump-start your designs and step-by-step tutorials to sharpen your skills and get up to speed quickly. Adobe Creative Cloud has everything you need to create, collaborate, and get inspired.
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html
More of Yocelyn’s work featured here:
http://yocelynriojas.com/features/features/