Mujer De Maiz : Goddess of the Earth

This body of work explores my Chicana identity, through the philosophical lens of ceremony, indigeneity and the healing feminine powers within family, sisterhood and community.

I am a, Xicanx; an indigenous identified Chicana of Otomí , Taíno and Spanish ancestry, born and raised in East Los Angeles. I am a teacher, artist and cultural worker. As a woman with native origins in the Southwest United States and/or México, I am most influenced by Mesoamerican culture and “red-road” or Native American plains cultural and spiritual ceremonies.  Although I was born and raised in an urban setting, I do not need permission from the US government to define my claim to the aboriginal identity that is clearly embedded within my ancestry and cultural/community practices.

Symbols of corn are used throughout this work to represent my relationship to land and my involvement in a women’s art collective in Los Angeles called Mujeres de Maiz. Maíz, or corn, first grown in Mexico about 5,000 years ago, became the most important food crop in Central and North America. Throughout the Americas, natives worshiped corn gods and developed a variety of myths about the origin, planting, growing, and harvesting of corn (also known as maize). A large number of native myths share the origin of corn and how it came to be grown by humans and the majority of corn deities are female associated with fertility.