Amanda Cervantes, Queer Hands, Sarita, Photograph (Archival Inkjet Print), 2023
This is one of a series of images created in collaboration with Marimacha Monarca Press, a queer South Side print collective, for the exhibition Amigas Latinas Forever. Through my archival research of the Amigas Latinas organization, I wanted to create portraits that could re-enact former Amigas Latina’s interactions within the organization as well as interacting with the numerous plática flyers in the archive. These folks were artists, poets, activists, mothers and came from all walks of life and ages but what united them was being queer and Latina. This project was meant to honor their legacy as an advocacy organization that lasted from 1995 to 2015.
Amanda Cervantes, Queer Hands, Tenderness, Photograph (Silver Gelatin Print), 2022
Queer Hands, Tenderness is an ode to my partner as well as butch lesbian identities. In my practice I have focused on hands as a way to capture intimacy, gender roles and identity through these conventional portraits. This image of my partner’s hands captures their softer side paired with adornments on their hands and arms through their tattoos and rings. This mix of hard and soft, masculine and feminine is a love letter to forms of butch lesbian identities.
Artist Bio:
Amanda Cervantes is a Chicago-based queer visual artist, curator, and writer. They center their artistic practice on exploring queer temporalities, family histories, and personal archives through image making. Through documentary storytelling and archival processes, they build narratives that examine familial mythologies, gender, and the discovery of queer threads within their lineage. Cervantes has exhibited at the Gerber/Hart Library and Archive, Art at a Time Like This, Chicago Art Department, Harold Washington College President's Gallery, Ontario College of Art and Design, and Terrain Biennial. Their collaborations include work with The Overlook Place, The Curve Foundation, Engine for Art Democracy and Justice, and the Global Center for Advanced Studies Latin America.