Dalila Paola Méndez (born 1975), is an American

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

of Guatemalan/Nicaraguan/Salvadoran descent. Méndez's work incorporates painting, photography, and film. It explores themes of femininity,

Latinidad ''Latinidad'' is a Spanish-language term that refers to the various attributes shared by Latin American people and their descendants without reducing those similarities to any single essential trait. It was first adopted within US Latino studies b ...

, indigeneity,

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

, and queerness.

Background and early life

Dalila Paola Méndez was born in Los Angeles, growing up in the

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

and Silver Lake neighborhoods. As a child, she spent many hours in Los Angeles' public libraries where she was introduced to different art forms. Méndez credits taking art classes at East Hollywood's

Barnsdall Art Park Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Parking and arts buildings access is from Hollywood Boulevard on the north side of the park. The park is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural M ...

for igniting her love for the arts. Her first medium was photography, using her 35mm camera to explore color and subjects. Méndez earned her BA in International Relations from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. She worked as a bilingual teacher for the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

, teaching English to children in immigrant communities. After leaving her teaching job, Méndez co-founded the Chicanx art collective Womyn Image Makers (WIM) with Aurora Guerrero and other Chicanx visual artists in 1999.

Works

Paintings

* ''The Goddess Within'' (2009). Acrylic on lava rock canvas of a ceiba tree in the shape of a female body. Four female figures, a

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

and a

quetzal Quetzals () are strikingly colored birds in the trogon family. They are found in forests, especially in humid highlands, with the five species from the genus ''Pharomachrus'' being exclusively Neotropical, while a single species, the eared quet ...

surround the ceiba tree presenting offerings. * ''LA Re-Imagined'' (2010). Acrylic on canvas painting of Los Angeles' landscape. According to Micaela Jamaica Díaz-Sánchez, it blends the city's urban environment with the Salvadoran artisan rural aesthetics. * ''We the Resilient'' (2020). Mixed media on canvas. A collage celebrating the lives of

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor (June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020) was an African-American woman who Killing of Breonna Taylor, was shot and killed while unarmed in her Louisville, Kentucky home by three police officers who entered under the auspices of a No-kn ...

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

, Andres Guardado and other victims of criminal violence by police. * ''Feliciano Ama'' is portraying one of the leaders of the Salvadoran Civil War in a rebellion against the government's repression of political freedoms and perceived election fraud; the painting is described as "...evoking the memory of Ama's hanging...without a noose and without bound hands." Mendez is described as letting Feliciano Ama "...embody his role as a community spiritual leader..." the way he had in the Salvadoran Civil War. Mendez uses "...ancestral narratives o exploreindigenous connections nd thenreinterpret and navigate issues confronting communities of color" by "...visually arratingstories of resilience..." through subjects like the LGBTQ community and the environment. Through words like these, she is also credited as having inspired others like Micaela Jamaica Díaz-Sánchez to use her works to "...reimagine the sociological, political ndcultural..." themes to represent the variations of experiences and history among those that are of "...immigrant, and working-class Latina positionalities." Through her work, she also hopes to express the legacy she describes as a reflection of their "...working-class backgrounds..."

Film

Dalila Méndez has worked on several films as both

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

and art director. Since the early 2000s, Méndez has collaborated with fellow Womyn Image Makers (WIM) filmmakers, like Aurora Guerrero, on several projects. * ''Pura Lengua'' (2005). Set in Los Angeles, the film tells the story of a queer Latina poet's experience navigating violence in her community. * ''Viernes Girl'' (2005). The film explores a week in the life of two

Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...

siblings. * ''Mosquita y Mari'' (2012). Set in Hunting Park, the film explores identity, gender, and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

through the relationship of two young Chicanx girls.

References

External links