With their costumes and makeup on, waiting to draw the curtains, Amy Zapata and her four siblings were eager to perform for an audience that ran out. The hat passed around the audience collecting tips from generous sponsors. The show was a homemade production of the lip-synced “Aladdin” songs, and Zapata’s parents and grandparents were spectators.
This is one of Zapata’s fondest memories of growing up in San Bernardino, California. As the middle child between two older sisters and two younger brothers, Zapata continued to build on the artistic foundation that she and her siblings had built in their childhood.
Zapata, 38, graduated from CSUN in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Television Arts. Two years later, she added to her education by earning a master’s degree in visual arts with a focus in images and video.
Today, Zapata’s photo gallery, “Around the City” around the clock, is on display at CSUN’s Manzanita Gallery. Her photographs document her town’s urban landscape through double exposures. Close-ups of plants and neon signs at liquor stores and check cashing buildings are among the multiple images blending together to represent the Zapata neighborhood.
“I started thinking about how to do it, while [the pandemic]”It all started to fall apart together,” said the third generation Chicana. “I used those double exposed images to create this abstract dealing with time, solitude, loneliness, and what happens when you don’t really have direction.”
Zapata explained that not knowing when, where, or what time of day the photos were taken was something Zapata wanted to convey with her photos. While her passion is rooted in the visual arts, she is often inspired by other ways of expression, such as music.
Zapata said listening to Frank Ocean on a car ride with her sister to the Rialto Café sparked something in her. Ocean’s song “Nights” was the show’s primary impetus, inspiring the title from the opening song, “Around Your Town, Clock.”
Ocean isn’t the only artist who drew on Zapata’s creativity. Kanye West’s 2013 album, “Yeezus,” influenced Zapata with some track vocals on racial inequality. Lady Gaga’s 2016 album, “Joan,” also left its mark on Zapata for her thought-provoking songs about family.
“What does it mean to be an artist and to be part of a family when you kind of feel like you’re on fire,” Zapata asked. “When I listen to music, I get this deep feeling. I have a normal reaction to songs or performances. I feel something.”
Zapata was new to the work with the double exposure images that led to the project. What began as an experience has become a homage to the neighborhoods in which I grew up.
Like many other creatives during the pandemic, Zapata felt repressed and uninspired, but the idea of the show revitalized her as an artist.
“I didn’t know if this would work and I didn’t know if this would be something I want to keep doing,” Zapata said. “But the response I got from people and my own feelings when I look at the pictures has been really good. It’s almost like this next chapter of what I want to do.”
Perhaps the most rewarding part of creating art for Zapata is working with other artists. The focus of her collaboration is to highlight her hometown, community, and gay and Latino people.
Zapata and her brothers created Pocha, what they describe as a collaborative Latin art event about “being at the crossroads,” in 2018. The event attempts to combine their passions – theater, performance art, visual arts and drag shows – making working with people very rewarding for Zapata.
“I love talking to other people because I think their stories are always really interesting,” Zapata said. “This is my favorite thing. This is what I miss.”
Representation and honesty are a major part of what Zapata showcases through her art. Although Selena Quintanilla, better known by her stage name Selena, was an early Zapata obsession, she felt as though she didn’t really have someone trying to represent who she was or where she was from. It wasn’t until a friend introduced her to Chicana photographer Laura Aguilar that Zapata found an artist and someone he was really looking for.
Aguilar’s work often revolved around the topic of vulnerability, with the images often challenging the idea of female nudity as an object of male gaze. Speaking of the complexities of Chicano society, Aguilar’s portraits also addressed issues of body image, representation of marginalized groups, as well as social and political matters.
Aguilar’s art is reflected through Zapata’s relationship between her art and her personal experiences.
“Being vulnerable is still a process for me. But I think that goes along with the way you are treated as a person of color and how you are treated as a woman,” Zapata said. “I think it’s always in my artwork in some way. Even if you’re not up front, there’s always that I’m trying to say, ‘This is what I am.'”
Zapata shared her own observations about the meaning of honesty in art and being part of an underrepresented community. She thinks honesty can be ugly, but it’s important to ask questions, even if the answers aren’t pretty.
“We’re kind of afraid to have actual discussions about things, even people within my community who don’t want to have those conversations,” Zapata said. “I am aware and aware of what I am trying to put out there.
“And I hope that someone who grew up the way I did, who felt isolated, who felt rejected and different, could say something like, ‘Hey, look here someone is trying to represent where I come from or who I am.’”
For a long time, Zapata felt lonely in her struggles as a Chicana artist. Hearing words like diversity and inclusion mean nothing without action, she said, while discussing “white-centric” spaces in the art community.
According to Zapata, being a person of color was synonymous with a lack of opportunity. Having the opportunity to showcase her work at the Manzanita Hall, Zapata realized the responsibility she had to her community.
“It is important for us to share our experiences and it is always important to be as honest as possible about your experiences so that someone else can understand them and realize that they are not alone,” Zapata said. “I want to bring in other people. I want to bring in other communities, and I want to work together rather than against each other as minorities.”
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