A sack of grass clippings sit in the corner, and gold-painted gardening tools such as shovels and hoes stud the walls — in the center of the gallery, a deconstructed lawn mower has fake grass and bright gold fabric pasted along its clippings bag, its internal parts laid out among the gallery.
Dulce Soledad Ibarra is a Cal State Long Beach sculpture student whose pieces are on display in the student art galleries; they reflect the values and meaning of pain from her childhood, and obstacles she overcame when encountering her identity as a Latina from a working-class family.
Throughout the exhibit, what looks like debris from a gardener’s shed is scattered over the gallery floor.
Her art aims to connect aspects of her Mexican, working-class upbringing to the classist or racist bullying she encountered while going to school in a white, upper-class environment. Ibarra’s message translates to a story of metamorphosis: her evolution from feeling guilt about her identity, to feeling pride for the very same reason.
Ibarra was born and raised in the U.S. but always felt immersed in her Mexican culture.
After the move from her childhood home to a larger, unfamiliar house, she started attending a high school that was primarily comprised of white, upper-class and Christian conservative students. Ibarra said attending that high school as a latina student broke her spirit.
Some classmates asked her what her father did for living and when Ibarra replied that he was a general laborer, they laughed and giggled at her. That was a moment of embarrassment that stuck with her.
Ibarra said she lost confidence and it was hard for her to develop pride again because of teasing she went through. After high school she wanted to become proud and felt guilty that she felt ashamed, especially considering her father’s sacrifices.
“I’m here in school and pursuing art of all things, and he’s not doing anything [that] he wants to do — he’s working to provide me a better future so I can [stay] in school,” Ibanna said.
Ibarra said she added gold to the tools in her exhibit because the hands that work those tools bring food and sustenance to her home. She suggests through her art that these tools aren’t just handheld machinery, but methods that her father uses to take care of her family despite society’s scorn.
“I want to raise value and respect to these,” she said. They are valuable to her father, and he is proud of not just what he done, but also how far he has come.
She also said that using the color gold was also a tongue-in-cheek joke, because both her and her father are allergic to real gold. Ibarra said that once, her parents saved their funds to buy her a golden cross pendant — only for hives to break out in response to the jewelry. Ibarra said, “it’s a metaphor of being allergic to luxury.”
The gallery is accompanied by a video that illustrates a day in a life of her father’s work – gardening. You can see him raking, mowing and digging through his perspective on the projector screen.
The student art galleries are open from 12-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday on upper campus, and Ibarra’s exhibit will be available for viewing for the rest of the week.
Miranda Andrade-Ceja contributed to this story.