Papí
My broadside is a piece that centers around my childhood, growing up with my mother and sister. It focuses on the absence of my father and how that has shaped me.
I have always thought of identity as ethnic background, sexual identification/orientation, language, religion, and so forth. Through this course I have realized that identity is much more than that. Identity is whatever you want it to be. One can define themselves in any way, as there are so many factors to what creates our full identity. Originally I wanted to focus my broadside on being a white passing Puerto Rican. In the Of Color exhibit, I felt there was a lack of Caribbean identity and I wanted to focus on that in the Expanded Conversation exhibit. Thus, I chose the piece 1492: What Is It Like to Be Discovered? This book focused on the Caribbean as a whole, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. I felt that I should explore another aspect of my identity other than my being Latina, after including this piece in the exhibit. I then thought back to Andre Bradley and his Goudy Lecture. What struck me was when Bradley got emotional and began to tear up when talking about his family and more specifically his father. This inspired me to explore my own nuclear family, especially my father and his role in shaping my identity. I realize that my father has played a large role in my life through his absence in it. My parents divorced when I was four years old, and I have had infrequent contact with my father through my adolescence and continue to today. I wanted to create a piece that focused on my own identity and how my father has and hasn’t been involved in the development of it.
This broadside is based off of a poem I wrote for the class. The front of the broadside features selected lines and phrases printed in typeset from the poem over a watercolor design. The back is digitally printed and features the poem in its entirety. The work is based on the relationship I have with my father, especially during my childhood. I try to navigate through conflicting feelings, and all around confusion. I wonder after all that we haven't been through together, am I still his princess like I was before?
--Madeline De La Cancela, Scripps College '20