#instructive art

As my project has looked at the ways in which transgender individuals are not included within sports I thought this would be a great way to showcase what needs to be done in order for them to get access. Just to explain the drawing a bit, the hands are reaching for these sports as in for soccer, tennis, hockey and the Olympic Games. I only included these few but it is in regards to all sports. As it can be seen there is space between the hands and where the sports are located, I drew it like this to show that there is still some exclusion for transgender athletes. I also included the words, inclusion, education and accepting because I believe these are needed in regards to trans athletes in sports. Also the word access is at the bottom of the hands to show how these trans athletes are trying to get access to this area. What I hope my audience gets from this art piece is how trans athletes should have full access to any sport they desire and that there are athletes still reaching for this. I think my art piece will ultimately help my audience become better advocates for gender justice by seeing that there is still much reaching to do and we need to be aware that there is still much exclusion in many areas for transgender folks. Thus is something that should be looked at, as it is not at the main front but is still important. 

For my blog project, I wrote about Trans Latinxs and their relationships to families of origin. Of course I found information about conflicts and tensions that occur when a Trans Latinx comes out to their family of origin. However, I also found a decent amount of family members, specifically mothers and sisters, who eventually or immediately accepted and embraced their Trans family members and even got involved in organizations to help promote awareness and fight for Trans rights in their communities. Through this piece, I wanted to portray the feeling that it is possible to be accepted by the Trans and Latinx communities not separately, but existing as both identities always in both communities. This is why I painted the Trans flag in the form of a zarape (this is how my abuelita says it, but also known as “zerape”, “sarape”, “serape”, or even “saltillo” in some places) a traditional Mexican blanket which is also used as a ”gaban” (not going to translate/explain references anymore, si no sabes, just google it) similar to a “rebozo”. The zarape to me in itself symbolized a fusion of, or more so adaptation out of survival, of indigenous art and “tilmas” with Spanish influences. This seemed perfect because I wanted a visual representation of the blending of Trans and Latinx identities, so I used the patterns and colors of the Transgender flag in a zarape style. I used the silhouettes of a parental figure and a child figure to symbolize family. It was difficult to choose what symbol I wanted to represent family because there is really no general family formula and I did not want to stereotype the family structure. However, I did focus on family of origin for my project so I chose some sort of parental/guardian figure and some sort of child figure. Overall, I hope that when people view my piece, they get a positive sense of a Trans Latinx identity that can include love and support from families of origin.