Photography exhibit "La Michicana: Digital (Trans) Nationalism and the Cyber Midwest" by Esmeralda E. Perez de Lopez

Esmeralda Perez de Lopez. I have lived in Michigan and in Mexico. I am influenced mainly by my community and the changing landscapes around me. I have painted for many years and have several works around Michigan. I grew up in Michigan in a Mexican household where the gender roles were flipped and challenged by the 1980′s economy, MTV Second Generation teens, and trans-nationalism. I drew in the blank pages of Bibles with pens, and my mother quickly got me a notebook. Art was my first love, poetry my second. I am influenced by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Frida Kahlo, Sandra Cisneros,Patssi Valdez, Yolanda Lopez, Alma Lopez, Rufino Tomayo, Pablo Picasso, Goya, Dali and my sister, Ana Alicia Tristan. I grew up crossing back and forth on the border, witnessing the injustices and beauty of this space, I also witnessed the same in my home state of Michigan. Nostalgia dances me to the canvas, the computer and the cross. There is a longing to return to the space where I have no bed, no roof, and no worries. I live with one foot in Mexico and one paw in the USA. I would like to continue to work, teach art to others and travel until the Creator determines otherwise. I specialize in digital designs and paint.