Melanie's Paintings, Textiles, Collage

Melanie Cervantes
24" x 36"
Acrylic Painting on canvas, 2005

Private Collection 

My maternal grandparents lived in Guanajuanto, Mexico, in the central part of the country, and taught me so many of the values that ground me today. In the early part of my art practice I decided I wanted to use my emerging stencil making skills to make something special for my mom. I used a beautiful photograph that my uncle, Claudio Gallegos, took as my source photo in order to create each layer of color. I then used free tiling software to create 8 1/2" x 11" tiles that I taped together to create the full picture. My mom was really happy and hung the piece in her living room. I think she hung it strategically because if the curtains are open you can see the painting from the street so most of my neighbors have seen it.

Melanie Cervantes
38" x 50"
Acrylic Painting on  90lb Stonehenge Fine Art Paper, 100% cotton, acid-free,archival, 2007

$1250-SOLD

This painting features a Zapastisa woman who is breastfeeding for the well-being of her child, as an exercise a demonstration of her rights. This large scale painting served as a color study for the limited-edition screen print of the same name.

I started painting on rather small canvases-about the size of a standard sheet of paper. One day when I hosted an art night in my old aparment in Oakland my good friend, Izzy, asked me "are you done painting your postcard?" I responded to this challenge by moving to much larger scale painted pieces that were as tall as me. This freed my body to create large bruch strokes that engaged my whole body instead of just my wrist. I also love the idea that the central figures in my work would be either life size or larger. 

The mujer zapatista in this print stares back into my eyes and asserts her power and in so doing makes me feel powerful.

Melanie Cervantes
Commissioned by Youth Sounds
Spray paing and Acrylic Painting on  canvas, 2007

Private Collection

Mad Vision is one of my first commissions for a Bay Area youth organization called Youth Sounds. Founded in 2001 at McClymonds High School in West Oakland , Youth Sounds served school-age youth through programs in video, audio, and music production in a wide variety of school-based and after school programs in some of the most challenging neighborhoods in Oakland.

The executive director, Ken Ikeda, was the person who told me about artists like Estria,  Favianna Rodriguez and my now partner Jesus Barraza and a business they owned called Tumis. The work Tumis did creating the logo for Youth Sounds was a huge influence on this stencil painting. My goal was to depict a youth filmaker whose "mad vision" could provide us with a better future.

Melanie Cervantes
7' x 5'
Acrylic Painting on  canvas, 2007

Collection of the Artist

San Salvador de Atenco has a long history of resistance to the central government, dating from before Mexico's Revolution of 1910. In 2001, Atenco villagers, mostly small farmers, organized the Peoples' Front for Defense of the Land and stopped former President Vincente Fox from grabbing their farmlands for the construction of a new airport. When they prevailed, a movement was born.In 2006, this group spearheaded the defense of the flower vendors in nearby Texcoco, who were forcibly removed by police from the streets in order to prepare for the coming Wal-Mart store. Wielding their machetes, the people's resistance became a symbol of popular protest in Mexico.

This large scale painting was the first, of what I thought would be a series, of banners that social justice organizations could borrow for their community events. I wanted to create banners on struggles of the moment around the world-highlights examples of resistance to a the forces of neoliberal governments and occupation. I only ended up painting two of these banners though. At the time I hadn't learned how to screen print and hadn't meet my comrades and future studio mates Jesus and Favianna. I've had many friend comment that the painted banner looks alot like poster. About a year after I painted this banner I translated the design into a limited edition screen print. Two years after that I adjusted the design when I was invited to design a Celebrate People's History Poster by Justseeds founder and fellow cooperative member, Josh MacPhee.

Melanie Cervantes
38" x 50"
Acrylic Painting on  90lb Stonehenge Fine Art Paper, 100% cotton, acid-free,archival, 2007

Collection of EastSide Arts Alliance

This painting features a Brown Beret Chicana whose portrait was taken during the 1970 National Chicano Moratorium. The Moratorium against the Vietnam war mobilized an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 peaceful protestors marched in East LA that August. The Brown Berets were a barrio self defense committe and many have referred to them at the parallel Chicana/o organization to the Black Panther party. This large scale painting served as a color study for the limited-edition screen print called Las Brown Berets. I realized I wanted to play with metallic colors in this painting but ended up keeping the palette for the screen print pared down to three colors.  I don't have a picture of it but the final painging has a ivy green background.