Ceramics Workshop Inspires Artistic Exploration

LGBT Student Services and the hosted an artmaking workshop in March led by Salvador de la Torre, one of two artists showcased in a recent Queerteñx exhibition in the Laband Art Gallery. De la Torre is a Mexican-born, Texas-raised artist, educator, and storyteller in Southern Calif. Their drawing and performance work invokes the power of personal experience and family history to create artworks that exist at the intersection of activism, art production, and the praxis of self-acceptance. The event began with a tour of the Queerteñx art exhibition in the Laband Art Gallery, narrated by de la Torre. Students heard how de la Torre crafted each of the ceramics pieces while simultaneously hearing the story of their immigration to the U.S. and their transition.

De la Torre began the exhibit tour by sharing a bit of their story, including how they were born in Guadalajara, Jalisco. "When I was 5 years old, my parents migrated to the U.S. and stayed in a border city in South Texas," said De la Torre. "A lot of my motivation and my inspiration for making art comes from my family history, my lineage, and my personal experiences." At the end of the gallery tour, de la Torre shared how the workshop portion of the event would allow students to take a word or phrase that folks have used to weaponize against any parts of their identities or a word that was meaningful to the student to create a ceramic piece. Students began by getting experience shaping the clay and then used tools to shape their chosen word or words into the clay itself.

The exhibition Queerteñx is intimately tied to the México/U.S. border aesthetically, historically, geographically, symbolically, visually, and conceptually. In the show, the aesthetic achievements of José Villalobos and de la Torre converged to theoretically queer citizenship and problematize machismo from a queer/trans axis - nepantleando in diaspora - where queerness is a site of infinite possibility.

Chloe Padilla '24, a communication studies major from Guanajuato, Mexico, who grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, and Placentia, California, came to the artmaking workshop because she has always wanted to try to get their hands in ceramics and pottery. Because it's their senior year, they are trying to take advantage of as many opportunities and resources as possible. "Salvador de la Torre reminded me that there is no right way to express and manifest art," said Padilla. "In another sense, there are no mistakes. I also learned different ways about the process of ceramics from start to finish and how there are so many ways to go about how artwork can be done. Experiencing making ceramic artwork with the artist was extremely special and intimate. Being able to ask questions directly to the artist and get feedback was a unique experience that I wish was more accessible for all people."

Padilla had never made ceramic artwork before or had been able to attend an event with LGBT Student Services but walked away with an extremely special experience. "This experience and workshop allowed me to feel more confident in moving forward in my own artistic pursuits, especially now in ceramic artmaking," said Padilla. "The workshop helped me get out of my comfort zone as an LGBTQ+ student. I was able to be educated on the artist, the craft itself, and challenge my own ability to try something new."

Padilla took the opportunity to visit the Queerteñx exhibit in the Laband Art Gallery about a month before this workshop. "I was able to enjoy the art and exhibit in solitude," said Padilla. "Having this exhibit available on campus at the Laband Art Gallery at LMU was very special for me, being Latin and Queer. I felt fully represented as a woman, student, and artist."

The exhibit piece that stood out most to Padilla represented a faceless person behind barbed wire with a hat, shoes, dirt, hands, and barbed wire coming out of the gallery's wall. "This piece, to me, shows that there are many people crossing the border every day for a better life, a second chance," said Padilla. "The terminology used to describe these people is "illegal aliens" or "undocumented." We do not give these souls a name or the humility to view them as people. This piece re-emphasizes the oppressive and inhumane nature in which our society views those who cross the border to start a new chapter in their life."

For Padilla, this workshop challenged them to get out of their comfort zone as an LGBTQ+ student. "I hardly ever go to events on campus, and this was my first time at an event with LGBT Student Services," said Padilla. "I am very glad that I attended the artmaking workshop. I even made a new friend and connected with Salvador de la Torre."

Outside of their academic work, Padilla works as an event producer out of Long Beach that focuses on community events with a heavy emphasis on Latin and Queer communities. "Last semester, I had the pleasure of working at a handful of events, such as Long Beach's third annual International Tamale Festival," said Padilla. "My other 'job' isn't as much a job as a passion. I DJ and produce music across Southern California. I've performed all over, including at places such as The Virgil, Aquarium of the Pacific, Catch One, OC Fair, and many more. I love art and education, and I am very happy to represent LMU in all that I do and will do."

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