Nature Self-Portrait #12

Media - 2021.27.3 - SAAM-2021.27.3_1 - 142494
Copied Laura Aguilar, Nature Self-Portrait #12, 1996, gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, 2021.27.3, © 2016, Laura Aguilar Trust

Artwork Details

Title
Nature Self-Portrait #12
Artist
Date
1996
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
16 x 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2016, Laura Aguilar Trust
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Highlights
Keywords
  • Landscape — rocks
  • Latino
Object Number
2021.27.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2021.27.3

Artwork Description

Laura Aguilar's identity as a queer Chicana informed her work as an artist throughout her career. In the Nature Self-Portrait series, Aguilar uses her own nude body as both sculptural object and photographic subject, juxtaposing the soft folds in her flesh with the harsh elements of the natural landscape surrounding her. The duality of her introverted posture and the extroverted vulnerability of her nude body invite the viewer to reconsider conventional notions of beauty and body politics in relation to the female form in art and photography. Aguilar's effortless existence within this landscape also reclaims the American Southwest by a person of Mexican descent for her community. She has said, "My photography has always provided me with an opportunity to open myself up and see the world around me. And most of all, photography makes me look within."   

Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, 2023