Socially Engaged Practice Art as a Means of Code-Switching
Originally from New Mexico, Méxcal first moved to Seattle in 2000, due to its creative environment and its connection to music and technology. He fell in love with the landscape and decided to stay. Méxcal is a classically trained painter; he studied for 3 years at Gage Academy of Art, has a BFA from Northwest College of Art and Design, and recently completed his MFA in Social Environmental Practice Art from Prescott College.
Much of Méxcal’s work appears in the form of publicly-accessible murals or public art. One includes his collaboration with Japanese American artist Erin Shigaki in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (C-ID). During the COVID-19 pandemic, many shops and businesses located in International District were boarded up. This incident was reminiscent of another time in history, when, following World War II, Japanese-Americans were unfairly and cruelly put into internment camps due to racism and fear on the part of the U.S. government.
To help facilitate healing, Méxcal and Shigaki painted murals uplifting marginalized communities and portraying their humanity in a way that was deeply rooted to culture. Méxcal and Shigaki worked extensively with the C-ID community to make a Black Lives Matter solidarity mural, which featured images of those who had been unjustly murdered by the police, adorned by traditional Japanese design elements.
Méxcal also incorporated elements of his Mexican-American heritage into a C-ID building called Uncle Bob’s Place, which is named in honor of Bob Santos, the late Filipino community leader and member of the activist group, The Gang of Four. Méxcal created pieces that drew from Mexican folk art traditions of papel picado, or cut paper, to showcase visual narratives dedicated to the theme of international struggle, which was a theme of Uncle Bob’s activism later in his life.
Méxcal equates socially engaged practice art to code-switching. Throughout his life, he has interacted and worked in various corners of society. These include stints fixing up low-rider motorcycles with his brother in a garage, then as a tattoo artist and street artist, until eventually moving into more gallery work, public art, and serving as an educator. All have influenced his expansive approach.
“If I’m working with different communities, the look of my work shifts,” Méxcal explains. “It’s code switching — not in a way that’s deceptive, or in a way that’s meant to present myself as somebody I’m not, but in a way that’s just meant to kind of connect with the community, the way I’ve always done.”
Art Rooted in Culture, Resistance & Struggle
Méxcal didn’t always see himself as a “political artist,” but over time, that stance has changed. He points to early frustrations over being frequently asked about the political implications of his artwork, while his white peers didn’t have to face the same type of questioning. As he developed as an artist, however, Méxcal began to more openly embrace his identity and use his platform to confront difficult social and political realities.
“I just love the belief that… all creative work is political,” Méxcal comments.
This is evident in his work with the nonprofit organization, La Resistencia, which fights against discriminatory immigration practices and actively works to shut down the Northwest Detention Center, which is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Tacoma. He has worked with the organization to create a number of colorful protest posters, and through these images, Méxcal has been able to directly engage with impacted communities, ensure that his art is grounded in their needs and perspectives, and find ways to connect their struggle with his own family history.
“In my work with undocumented folks experiencing the contemporary violence and indignities of the U.S. government, I feel a connection with their struggles,” Méxcal comments. “I see the interconnectedness of my own family and personal history with the struggles of those who are committed to shutting down the for-profit Northwest Detention center.”
While Méxcal recognizes that his own family immigration is complex and different from those of many that La Resistencia serves, it has nonetheless been greatly impacted by U.S. policies and legacies of settler-colonialism. Presently, Méxcal is creating a new body of work centered around his familial and personal history, which will tackle topics regarding Latinx identity, immigration, and masculinity. He hopes the series will help him uncover and explore more about his family roots.
“On my mother’s side, we are the mixed-race Indigenous-Spanish (Mestizo) people who never crossed the border but witnessed the border crossing us, following the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,” he reflects. “After becoming ‘Americans,’ we were never seen as full citizens and lost our lands and wealth through theft to white settlers.”
“On my father’s side, our family lived for generations in a small border town, Boquillas del Carmen,” he continues. “My ancestors survived the unrest of the Mexican Revolution, only to be forced to navigate la Matanza and Juan Crow in Texas. When the Big Bend National Park was created, we were forcibly displaced by U.S. government agents. My grandmother and other family members of her generation never talked about the trauma they endured.”
Méxcal’s activism also extends beyond visual art; he has helped facilitate healing circles for frontline activists in need of emotional support and solidarity due to the challenging nature of their work. He has also been involved in art activations — such as a collaboration between La Resistencia and Tsuru for Solidarity — a nonprofit of Japanese American social justice advocates who support communities that are targeted by unjust immigration policies. He worked with Shigaki and the Purple Puerta Collective to craft art kites which symbolize hope for those incarcerated within the facility.
Bringing the Artistic Practice into the Classroom
In addition to his own artistic practice, Méxcal is also an educator at South Seattle College, where he is a full-time member of the art faculty. He also works with nonprofits such as Urban Artworks to teach youth about murals and street art.
No matter the setting, Méxcal views teaching as an exchange of sorts. While he draws from his experiences to educate students, he also learns from his students through their engagement and the questions they ask. Méxcal believes in the praxis during the learning process — of synthesizing what one is learning, and then putting that out into the world.
“The teaching I try to create the space that I never had, and I think that’s what really motivates me as a teacher,” Méxcal says.
As an educator, he expands on questions that he asks himself during the instruction process, such as, “What does teaching look like when it’s human-centered?” and, “What does teaching look like when relationships are prioritized over just getting certain outcomes right?”
Méxcal sees his role as an artist not just to make aesthetically-pleasing work, but to use his platform to confront difficult social and political realities. Whether it’s through education, socially-engaged practice art, his studio practice, or working with any number of diverse communities, he brings himself to the experience, while being mindful of where he is while he’s there.
“This idea of finding beauty in daily life is a part of the communities that I work with,” he explains, of working in varying settings. There’s inherently a visual culture that I step into… my job is just to kind of bring my own voice to that conversation and then help execute.”
Ω