Lucy Esparza McDonald

I use a combination of photography, performance and sculpture to create experience-based installations. My work attempts a self examination through the critical study of my own family. I aim to answer questions about my identity and values by researching specific aspects of my familial history and cultural heritages. The ability that comes with being biracial allows me to cross between cultural identities. “How will I ever be Mexican enough having been raised by a white lady?” Or “what does it mean that my ancestors were massacred by the same people that make America’s favorite soup?”

Currently, I am exploring the Americanization of Mexican culture and the way that my identity as a Mexican-American has been filtered through the lens of a single, white mother. I explore the way mass production of “authentic” Mexican cuisine has aided my mother in connecting me with a culture that I would otherwise have only a biological claim to. I aim to investigate how commodified Mexicanidad has shaped and reinforced my ideas of what it means to be an American of Mexican descent.