ART TALK | Amalia Mesa-Bains' Domestic Landscapes

Artist and scholar Amalia Mesa-Bains coined the term domesticana (also known as Chicana rasquache) to describe her work and that of other Chicana artists and activists. Architectural historian Kathryn E. O’Rourke explores the meaning of domesticana in Mesa-Bains’ installations, looking at the ways her work and ideas relate to land, residential interiors, and gender in dialogue with and distinct from rasquachismo, an aesthetic expression derived from discarded everyday materials, that is often associated with city life, outdoor spaces, and masculinity.
Art Talk is made possible by the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs.