Viva La Mujer (Extra Large, 2017)

Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes
28″ x 40″
6-Color Handmade Screen Print, Made in Oakland, CA 2017
Edition 0f 40

This is the largest version of the Viva La Mujer print we have produced, it is also one of the biggest thing we have printed in the studio. We were interested in how this design would translate to such a large format and although printing was a little labor intensive we were really happy with the outcome.

This collaboration mixes Melanie Cervantes’ portrait of a Xicana drawn a few years ago with a pattern Jesus Barraza pieced together from an ancient Olmec stone stamp created approximately 3,000 years ago. This mix of ancient and new brings together printmakers across generations. The stamp pattern used was one of many that were created to print on fabric and paper and to express the cosmology of the Olmecs. These elements are combined with the feminist declaration “Viva La Mujer” which affirms the duo’s belief that sisters must be at the center and at the forefront of transformational social change.