This drawing created in graphite is inspired by atrocities against women that occur along La Frontera, or “the border,” the boundary between the United States and México.  Along this border is an industry of factories called maquiladoras that provide goods for consumers worldwide, primarily in the United States.   Maquiladoras are American principally and foreign-owned companies that focus on assembling components for export.   The process is labor intensive, and there is little regulation and legislation on how the workers are paid or treated.   Many of the maquiladoras are US-owned, taking advantage of low labor costs.   To gain perspective the majority of the thousands of employees are young women.  There are few or no options for the women to become victims of wage slavery.  They work an average of 12 – 16 hours daily for 5 dollars, just enough money to survive. They have been pressured not to unionize, have little legal representation, and are seen as disposable individuals.  The word “femicide” is used to describe every type of violence committed upon them, from harassment and sexual violence to murder, while the police and the military turn the cheek. 

 

Somos El Grito de las Que ya no Están is a protest slogan specifically used to create awareness of these crimes against women.  It speaks of generations of exploitation and slavery at the hands of machista men and capitalistic profit incentives. Throughout art history, images of God and saints have been used as devices for people to cope, relate, and increase their faith in their struggles.  In this work, I used the image of La Virgin de Guadalupe working relentlessly and laboring with her sisterhood in a maquiladora.  Ideas of awareness, humility, endurance, perseverance, and salvation are perceptions I hope to achieve with this drawing

 

Hecho en México

32” x 40”

graphite on paper