Gloss Cardstock Print

This piece is about the complex feelings of being Latina and the varying degrees of what it means to be “enough”.

This painting is a riff on the old phrase “Se va con el nopal en la frente.” This is meaning to say she walks around acting like she isn’t Mexican but she’s so Mexican you can see the cactus on her forehead.

When you are Latina in the United States, no matter how many generations in or out from your motherland…you can often feel “not enough” depending on who you are around. Around a Hispanic community you can often feel not hispanic enough but around ..well..white communities, you can often feel not quite white enough. You can catch yourself changing the way you speak, leaving certain accessories at home depending on who you are around not because you are ashamed but because you don’t feel like standing out or explaining that day. More chances of unwelcome comments. Hiding is exhausting. Standing out can also be exhausting depending on your mental health state that day. And of course this all shifts from one space to the next.

Instead of putting the nopal on the forehead to match the phrase, I decided to satirically put on top of the head in a proud but also playful ear-like manner. A statement of that no matter how one shows up in a space that they are Latina enough and never too much and proud. No matter how Latina we are, we always love fiercely. We allow ourselves to feel deeply and show up in the best way we know how.

Concept and healing inspired by the book “I Am Not your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika Sánchez. A absolute must read if you have not.