Artist Spotlight: Joshelyn Vizcaya

WGHS Artist, Joshelyn Vizcaya, gives insight on her denim art: “Cambio De Ropa”.
by Sydoni Shaw

WGHS Artist, Joshelyn Vizcaya, gives insight on her denim art: “Cambio De Ropa”.

In the course of Ms. Jackson’s AP Art class, Senior Joshelyn Vizcaya was tasked with the assignment to come up with her own “sustained investigation”-  explained by the assignment prompt as a line of thought explored through mediums and processes. “My sustained investigation was about my heritage, specifically the religious evolution in Mexico,” Vizcaya says.

With her inspiration being her culture, Vizcaya explains what this piece embodies. “I wanted to know more about mythology in Mexico, and I wanted to express the importance of Catholicism as well.” Vizcaya found a way to specifically represent Chicano culture, after she learned that she could choose fashion as her medium. “I am a Chicana. . . [which is] an American of Mexican descent.” Vizcaya goes on to say that baggy jeans are a huge part of Chicano culture, “like dickies were, and like zoot suits were before that.”

Zoot Suits from yesmagazine.org

Dickies from dickies.com

Vizcaya tries to capture the theological changes in Mexico from times of indigenous religions to modern Catholicism. “After the Spanish Conquistadors came, there was a major shift. . . Catholicism was forced on the people [of Mexico],” Vizcaya explains. “Now, it's embraced as the primary religion.” Vizcaya's jeans feature the Aztec god, Huitzilopochtli, and Catholic Virgin Mary.

Vizcaya’s process of crafting her sustained investigation did not come without challenges. “I had to do a lot of revisions. . . originally just scaling,” she explains. “Sometimes I couldn’t fit all I wanted on the jeans… [and] paint,  of course, got everywhere.” Vizcaya had to cover up the unwanted splatters of paint and construct belt-like ties for the jeans which were oversized on purpose. When asked if there was anything she would do differently about this piece, Vizcaya explained time was the barrier. “I kind of wish I had better time management, so I could have done more embroidery,” she says. Vizcaya later goes on to say that she had so many other ideas that could have been incorporated.

Beyond this piece, Vizcaya reveals that art allows her to manifest her feelings and worries. She believes art is beautiful and all around us. “I think everything is art, you know?  The world is art, cultures are art, people are art, life is art.” 

As her denim art, “Cambio de Ropa” (meaning “Changes of Clothes”) allowed her to display her culture, Vizcaya believes art’s purpose is to express something. “We all need a way to express ourselves. We all were born with creativity, so we should use it,” Vizcaya says. “Let. It. Out.”