Bay Area Artist Breaks Down Borders With Her Art

Working earlier the canvas successful her San Francisco studio, Ana Teresa Fernández was covered successful self-inflicted paint. In betwixt the gentle brushwood strokes connected an in-progress painting, she cleaned the brushwood by wiping it connected her pants, connected her sleeve -- overgarment adjacent infiltrating the headphones piping euphony into her head. 

In an oversimplified interpretation, the country could beryllium taken to correspond that Fernández is not acrophobic to get messy for her art. But her enactment bears that out. 

To wit -- Fernández is an creator who has challenged national authorities by coating a conception of the Mexican borderline partition entity bluish portion dressed successful a tango outfit --  beautified the gritty woody walls of San Francisco cardboard collector trucks -- and created an creation installation successful a drug-infested vicinity successful Cape Town, South Africa. 

"For me, it’s however tin you bring consciousness and visibility done these actions that tin beryllium poetic?"  Fernández said successful betwixt bouts of painting. 

It's apt Fernández developed her creator fearlessness growing-up successful her autochthonal Tampico, Mexico -- wherever she noted 1 could beryllium taken-out immoderate infinitesimal by a mango falling from a histrion oregon by crocodiles that unrecorded successful the town's lake. As a kid, she learned the benignant of beingness skills that could lone travel from a spot similar Tampico. 

"If you get chased by a crocodile," she explained, "you person to tally successful a zig-zag due to the fact that they can’t crook due to the fact that their hands are truthful short." 

In Tampico, what radical lacked successful means, they made up for with creativity. She recalled radical utilizing the lids from coke cans to fortify the corners of cardboard houses, employing aged store doors arsenic walls and discarded car seats arsenic furniture. 

"What’s allowed determination is ingenuity," Fernández said. "People marque thing retired of nothing." 

It's understandable that the town's shaper mentality would rub-off connected an creator whose bold projects astir the satellite person earned her planetary recognition.  

Fernández was eleven-years-old erstwhile her father, a doctor, took a occupation successful San Diego and relocated the household to the United States. In San Diego, she was exposed to beingness on the Tijuana borderline which would go a cardinal taxable successful her art. In school, she met girls who waited successful enactment each time to transverse the borderline to be classes successful the U.S. and past instrumentality location astatine night.  

"They would hold successful enactment sometimes astir 2 hours," she said. 

If her Tampico upbringing manifested successful her thinking, it came retired successful her passionateness for sculptures and drawings. She was drawn to learning languages, but wasn't arsenic enthusiastic astir learning successful school. 

She was turned down by the universities she applied to and began taking creation classes successful assemblage college. A sculpture teacher urged her to taxable her enactment to a squad from San Francisco's Art Institute visiting the country to enlistee caller students. She was stunned erstwhile the schoolhouse not lone accepted her, but besides awarded her a scholarship. 

Through her art, coupled with the activistic tone of the Bay Area, she began to code inequalities -- specified arsenic what she viewed arsenic a deficiency of opportunities for women successful her autochthonal Mexico. She employed the metaphor of the tango dancing she'd go progressive with, wherever compression betwixt partners is required to prolong the creation -- frankincense emphasizing the value of adjacent contribution.  As a statement, Fernández began to don her tango outfit and videotape herself doing home chores similar ironing oregon sweeping. From determination she created paintings from the images. 

To gully attraction to the inequities of the U.S.-Mexican border, she hatched a program to "erase" a conception of the borderline partition by coating it entity bluish -- besides portion dressed successful her tango formal and heals. She managed to not lone overgarment a ample swath of the wall, but besides debar apprehension by the borderline patrol agents who yet showed up. 

In different border-themed project, she and her hubby wrapped their heads successful metallic blankets -- the benignant fixed to immigrants successful borderline holding facilities --  and attempted to kiss.  

"We could lone bash truthful for astir a infinitesimal due to the fact that it would commencement asphyxiate you," she said. 

During the pandemic arsenic radical flooded to market stores to cleanable the shelves of toilet paper, Fernández alternatively raced to the creation store to bargain respective ample canvases which she filled with images of the abstraction broad project. Even arsenic the pandemic unopen down beingness crossed the world, Fernández stayed perfectly contented successful her studio, covering the canvases, and collaterally,  herself with paint. 

"I emotion the solitude, I emotion the isolation," she said flanked by a ample coating of the 2 heads wrapped successful silvery material. "I person nary occupation spending 5 to 7 hours wholly successful silence." 

In a consciousness Fernández' enactment is simply a tribute -- and possibly adjacent an airing of grievances toward the metropolis and state of her birth. Hers is simply a analyzable narration with a spot she recalls with fondness, portion besides observing its shortcomings of accidental and sex equity. She remains shackled to it some successful representation and successful art. Like her enactment clothes, her mentation of Tampico is covered successful layers of paint, which she peels astatine with each project. 

"I wouldn’t beryllium who I americium without having grown up there," Fernández said earlier returning to her canvas. "I deliberation that increasing up successful Tampico, it provided maine that consciousness of magic that I transportation with maine each the time."