Originally reported by Walter Ryce of CSUMB News.
In April 2021, Angelica Muro, artist and Chair of the Visual and Public Art Department, engaged in a virtual conversation with fellow artist Amy Díaz-Infante. They discussed their creative practices, personal journeys as artists and educators, and the quest for equity in the art and museum worlds. This event was hosted by the Monterey Museum of Art as part of its Califas Legacy Project and the exhibit “The Ancestral Journey/El Viaje Ancestral.”
The conversation, titled “Two Journeys,” was organized by Membership Coordinator and Board Liaison Melanie Zaragoza and moderated by the museum’s Interim Executive Director, Corey Madden.
Amy Díaz-Infante started the discussion with a slide showing a girl having her hair brushed severely by a woman, symbolizing control and manipulation of her body by others, including her mother. “The flipside is, it’s out of love,” she explained, noting her mother’s intent to present her in the best light to protect her as a girl of color. Díaz-Infante also shared an ethereal portrait of her sister, created using wrinkles in a sheet, and spoke about Mexican traditions of dark humor and candid conversations about death. Another piece, depicting a hand lighting a candle, referenced her grandmother’s practice of lighting veladoras (Mexican saint candles) for protection.
Angelica Muro prefaced her presentation by emphasizing her focus on historical, social, political, and ethical themes, integrating race, socio-economic class, gender tension, diaspora culture, and immigrant life into her visual language. She showcased her “Narco Language” series, which explores the pop culture appropriation of terms like “narco chic” and “narco queens.” Muro also presented her “Agricultural Workers” series, inspired by her upbringing in a migrant labor camp in the San Joaquin Valley, the nation’s highest food producer with significant food insecurity and poverty. She repurposed a patronizing federal pamphlet about pesticide hazards, juxtaposing simplistic farmworker drawings with elite icons of wealth.
In collaboration with Juan Luna-Avin, Muro’s series “Club Lido: Wild Eyes and Occasional Dreams” centers on a former nightclub in San Jose, where Latino and Vietnamese communities intersected.
During the Q&A, Díaz-Infante discussed the complexities of her identity and her rejection of art world elitism in favor of printmaking’s democratic accessibility. Muro reflected on her art career, acknowledging her current privilege and the hard work it took to reach a point where she could take more risks and have greater autonomy. She emphasized the importance of creating opportunities for students and community engagement, highlighting a housing project in Chinatown aimed at fostering equitable spaces.
The Califas Legacy Project, launched on January 9, 2021, included a symposium featuring Chicana artist and CSUMB founding faculty Judith F. Baca, renowned art collector Armando Duron, and other CSUMB-affiliated artists such as Amalia Mesa-Bains, Professor Emerita; Guillermo Aranda ‘10; Armando Franco ’11; and Jaime Sanchez ’08. The exhibition remains a testament to the ongoing efforts to achieve equity and representation in the art world.
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