My work in the Latinx stigma is about, the Latin cultural stigma towards Mental Health, the struggles we face in our society, and treatment. Brenda identifies as a Mexican American with a mental illness. She uses her cultural beliefs to bring awareness to mental health stigma issues with in the culture and lack of equality. Within her culture there is expectations to describe that those with a mentally ill would be more resilient and cope with life problems without treatment. Although, this is not true. Latino stigma beliefs are that mental illnesses are the people’s own fault. Due to stigma, Latinos end up avoiding treatment. Disparities have also impacted those from seeking help. Living with a mental illness is not easy. No one suffering with mental illness should be faced with stigma and disparities that prevent us from getting treatment. The stigma in our culture has also kept Latinos in secrecy. Due to the cultural stigma it has created shame and embarrassment within those who are mentally ill. Unfortunately, there is no social support. Latinos with a mental illness should not be feared by stigma.
Through my work, I want to bring awareness to mental health stigma issues and create change to the inequalities we experience. Misconceptions of treatment should be altered as well as negative attitudes toward those living with a mental illness. Along with our cultural stigma, we also face discrimination. We also need to address the racial and ethnic minority microaggression that we might experience when seeking treatment. We should have the help that we need in order to better our mental health. Over all stigma and inequalities in our community are very hurtful to our love ones who are suffering from a mental illness. I try to bring positivity and hopefulness with bilingual text and color for the viewer. I paint medication bottles with positive text on an attached diptych compared to the stigmatized negative attitudes. I use traditional rendering to create the medicine bottles.
In my content, I use medication bottles images, the simultaneous contrast of color and bilingual text. I use vibrant colors to create stimulation and build encouragement. I also use feminine and masculine nouns in Spanish. Spanish includes both genders in all of its nouns, which allows me to represent both genders in my work. I use mediums such as gouache on paper.
Ultimately, my artwork is societal and about Latin culture of mental health with in the U.S. I have been influenced by artists Francisco Goya, Victoria Santa Cruz, and Yayoi Kusama.
