“Reflejos de Dignidad”
Youth Art Exhibit
Children in prison want us to see them for who they really are, not just what they have done. “Reflejos de Dignidad”, or Reflections of Dignity in English, an art exhibit by incarcerated Latine youth created in partnership with the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, USA. Youth worked over the course of three months and eleven workshop sessions with art instructors from the National Museum of Mexican Art, exploring different mediums, techniques, and themes. The final project was to create a self-portrait – where the students were asked not to attempt a conventional realistic self-portrait but rather a stylized portrait combined with descriptive and narrative imagery.
The voice of youth is seldom heard, perhaps the voice of youth experiencing incarceration is heard the least. By creating a narrative self-portrait, the participants took control of their own image and, transitively, their public perception, giving youth an autonomy that is often denied to them. The results have been collected together to create this exhibit.
Exiting Our Reality - P.C.D.
The central theme of my piece is escapism and leaving one’s reality. I was inspired by the reality that I am living. I wish I could escape from my conditions and exit my reality entirely. Although I want to escape, I hope my work expresses that even though things may happen in life, things that we do not like, and we may want to escape from them and our reality, that’s just not possible and we need to learn to overcome our problems and our experiences.
A Little of Everything – PECAS
My inspiration, and the theme of the piece is A Little Bit of Everything. I was inspired by feminine beauty, by the things that I love, like sneakers, particularly Jordans, by the sky that is sometimes beautiful, by the hill and the neighborhoods of El Cerro de la Estrella where I liked to hang out, and by my love of music and singing which I represented with a microphone.
The imagery and symbolism I chose and created in my piece has concise expressions. The sky and birds are freedom, music is emotion, the ball and sports are unity since everyone plays, and the hill is adrenaline and adventure.
Unnamed – KEVO
My sister was my biggest inspiration when creating this piece. She is the person who has supported me throughout the situation I am living in.
I wanted to show the sun and the sunshine as illuminating my life and myself, as something that brightens my life and inspires me. Within the piece, the colors and the clouds are beautiful the way my sister is beautiful.
Sports & Adrenaline – VARA
When creating this piece, I was inspired by sports and motorcycles as well as those nights when the moon is out.
Both sports and motorcycles have very competitive environments where you have to put in double the effort and really push yourself. Personally, on a motorcycle I have always felt a sense of calm and peacefulness, I feel free. That’s also how I feel from a clear night sky. Sports give me an opportunity to relieve stress and to compete and triumph.
The Faces of Life – Anonymous
When creating this piece, I was inspired by a feeling of frustration and anger and a little bit of the reality of life.
Within my piece, I wanted to express emotions that anyone can relate to and evoke those emotions in the viewer. I also wanted the piece to be experienced differently, depending on the viewer’s emotional state.
Self Portrait – K.M.Z.
In the painting I made, I had the objective of portraying myself using the proportion techniques that we learned in class. I also wanted to convey my appreciation for flowers and what they represent to me. Flowers can grow anywhere and they are all beautiful and unique, no flower is identical because of the wonder of their varied shapes and colors. Additionally, I wanted to portray a hummingbird which is my favorite animal and represents freedom and cunning.
Unnamed – Madison
I created my self-portrait depicting the times when I would wear eyelashes, I would get my eyebrows done. I depicted Nike symbols because I like Nike sneakers a lot. I included my artistic pseudonym as well as a Rolex necklace like the one I used to have.
When looking at my piece, I want the viewer to get to know me, to know my interests and tastes, and to show that when I am free, I want to make up for lost time and take care of myself and my appearance.
Feet in the Sand – L.M.L.
I depicted the beach because I really like the sea and the sky. The sand gives me peace and makes me feel free. Someday I am going to leave this place and start from zero.
I hope the viewer can feel like they are at the sea, close their eyes and see what I saw when I imagined it.
Self-Portrait and Alter Ego – S.V.P.
In this piece I am depicting my alter ego with blue hair and a planet. I love all the planets. I would like to travel to another one. I painted it blue because that is my favorite color. The butterfly is a representation of myself. I identify with them. I gave myself little cat ears because I like cats a lot. I gave my self-portrait green eyes because that is the color of my mom’s eyes. I love the moon. It’s beautiful. I like its cycles. I depicted a sunset as the background. The painting represents a lot of things that I like. I hope the viewer feels freedom and peace while looking at it.
The Fairy and the Sea – Anonymous
The sea represents my freedom. The fairy is me, because fairies can fly very high and I feel capable of flying high, of fulfilling my dreams, reaching my goals, and everything else I set my mind to. I would like anyone who sees my painting to feel a sense of peace and freedom, because there is nothing more beautiful than life, and the freedom that God gives us every day.
Someday – B.
In my painting the lion represents strength, they know no fear. I would like to be like a lion. The lion also represents my mom because she is strong. Even though she may have fears, she recognizes them and does everything she can to overcome them.
The eagle is a representation of freedom. Someday very soon I will be like the eagle, free. I will be able to make amends for my mistakes and make up for lost time and be able to reunite with my mother.
I created my self-portrait so you can learn more about me because I have tried to be like the lion, and someday I will fly like the eagle. Every flower in my piece represents a member of my family. They have been very supportive and have never abandoned me.
Brilliant Night – M.
The beach brings back memories with my family. It also gives me peace of mind and makes me happy and relaxed. The darkness of the sea is a representation of everyone’s dark side. The shooting star is my desire to be free and be able to be with my family again. The moon provides a light among the darkness. If you look closely at the sky, you can see my initials in the stars. There’s also a smiley face in the stars because at some point I would like to feel happiness.
The Tree – D.O.R.F.
I did my painting thinking specifically about trees because I really like them. Seeing them brings me peace, aside from liking nature. For the technique I had to learn how to mix colors and use them with primary shades. The apples symbolize the good memories in life.
Waterfall – K.
I really enjoyed the workshop since it represented a venue for me to relax. Each time I painted, I thought about many things, like my mom. I learned from a great teacher. My painting portrays a waterfall, my hometown and my mother. They all are a representation of myself. Though painting a waterfall was challenging, I decided to use colors that my mom likes.
The artwork created through this collaboration challenges our misconceptions of incarcerated youth, showing us how these young people want to be perceived, reminding
us that they are creative, caring, thoughtful, complicated people not unlike any other young person. In a world plagued with economic disparity, institutional racism, food insecurity, violence, and many other social injustices, it is our youth who are most affected and disenfranchised. Reflections of Dignity shows us what youth are capable of doing when given the opportunity and resources to be creative, to just be young.