"it's insane, it's insanity, it's turmoil. but yeah, its a need..it's a hunger."

Latinidad in the Art World: A Visual Exploration of Belonging

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I have always struggled with understanding the complexity of my own identity. As a Jewish American Latina artist, learning where I do and do not belong has been a challenge. Understanding and dissecting the inner workings of who I am has led me to question where others stand in their own process of self-discovery. This project is a study not only of the sense of self, but the sense of belonging to a larger community.
 

For this project, I photographed and interviewed 6 artists living in the United States: 3 men and 3 women of different ages, working in different media. I have included two photographs of each artist. The larger photograph is a portrait in the more traditional sense, in which there is eye contact with the viewer and a clear view of the subject’s face. The second and smaller image is also a portrait; but, these smaller photographs allow the viewer a more abstract and intimate look at each artist’s own work and their spaces of comfort.
 

Through these portraits and excerpts from the interviews, I hope to show a glimpse of the intricacies of identity itself. While identity is socially constructed, it is a framework that guides the inner workings of an individual’s sense of self in relation and in the context of the United States.
 

Through my interviews, I unexpectedly encountered a separation between the artistic self and the Latin@ self. For three of the artists, the decision to make a connection between art and their ethnicity was never there; but for the other three, the awareness and conscious decision to create work that was stimulated by their ethnicity was recognized and fostered. This project has been a constant reminder of the complexities of self-awareness and understanding.
 

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This is just the beginning. I have made no conclusions, nor do I expect there to be any.

If you are interested in reading my thesis, please contact me at dani.rosa.cattan@gmail.com