Presenter(s): Kat Sincuir Alvarez—Anthropology/Cinema Studies
Faculty Mentor(s): Lynn Fujiwara
Session 2: Common Reading
This art was created as an inspiration from the significant amount of symbolism Helena Viramontes portrays of Estrella within the book of Under the Feet of Jesus . To begin, Estrella explains her agony and confusion when she thinks back to the ‘Sun Maid’ raisins logo, as it is a happy white woman . Estrella could not feel more different than the woman in the box . She is a Latina with a pained face as her hands are all cut from the grape vines . I found this to be incredibly important to her character, the vines in my painting symbolize her entangled chains that only bring her down to the field work she is so stuck in . When drawing Estrella, I wanted to recreate her as the young lady I imagined her to be, beautiful, broken, dirty and sad . While she may dream of tomorrow and is a strong character I chose to draw her vulnerable side as that is what almost everyone fears, and yet that is what makes us most human . Our experiences make us the people we are, and for Estrella, the reality is that she is hopeless and yet she decides to be hopeful . Her eyes hold a small galaxy of stars, the one’s she is both named after and looks up to in an attempt to reach for a better tomorrow . Lastly, Estrella
is clutching to wood as she is clutching to the barn . Since the beginning of the book, Estrella had a feeling that was almost spiritual with the barn, while it was falling down and it was old, there was some sort of refuge within it . And yet, she struck a deal with Perfecto to tear it down if it meant he could go to the clinic . Alas, she leaves Alejo alone in the hospital and she goes back into the barn to look at the stars . What will be of the barn?