Artists’ Statements Glass Houses: a View of American Assimilation from a Mexican-american Perspective

Exploring Autobiography My interest in developing interactive web sites began in the early spring of 1995. That was when I discovered the Internet offered artists a different kind of imaginative experience for their viewers. It also marked a critical period in my life because during the mid-1990s I realized my need to create reflections of the past, while exploring new understandings of the present with the use of technology (the Internet) and autobiography. These facts, along with my interest in combining new trends in technologies, traditional art practices and visual literacy is what fueled my artistic vision for developing Glass Houses (1997), a multi-layered, interactive website. An integral aspect of Glass Houses involved having a strong desire to create a voice for the “modern” Chicana living in the suburbs [2]. And since I am an individual who has witnessed the challenges of oppressive environments and the spectre of racial enmity, Glass Houses was also created in an attempt to inspire cultural sensitivity. To meet my expectations, I created Glass Houses with the idea of a virtual house. Using the structural floorplan of my own home, I designed a doormat that serves as a metaphor to explore a variety of themes associated with daily living: fears, ritual, tradition, opportunity and desires. The web site offers a critical examination of the “Chicana(o)” experience as it relates to living in middle-class neighborhoods in Southern California, being influenced by popular culture, and struggling over identity issues with regard to one’s self and one’s children.