NI SANTAS
In the summer of 2016, Andi Xoch and a friend (who wishes to remain unnamed) began to make art together and noticed that the women in their community had little access to art resources. Xoch, who was an art instructor at Self Help Graphics and had recently left the all-female bicycle brigade known as the Ovarian Psycos Cycles, wanted to create another collective that would retain the sisterhood of ex-Ovarian Psyco members. The one-time friends then decided to do a call out on social media and invite women to create art together. Self Help Graphics became the perfect place to meet.
With a shared attraction to graffiti, painting, and other similar art styles, soon thereafter, many women joined the group. At one point Ni Santas consisted of about thirteen members. As time passed by the collective grew smaller due to a difference in interests, time schedules, and life. The current collective is composed of: Andi Xoch, Joan Zeta, also a former Ovarian Psyco member, and The Clover Signs, who had also joined OPC bicycle rides.
While the majority of Ni Santa’s work is rooted in aerosol art, serigraphs, and community altars, every member contributes to incorporate a myriad of art mediums through different skills and style. The goal of the collective is be open to any muxer and manifest the power of muxeres with all artistic backgrounds to learn from each other.
Ni Santas is an all women of color collective whose mission is to write their history through art, with responsibility to create socially conscious visual narratives. Ni Santas envision creating a safe space by cultivating a community of women, free of judgment to nourish their emerging artists.
“When you’re brown a women from the hood, whether you’re queer or gender non-conforming, your oppression isn’t only experienced as a women, it is any and all those things at the same time so you have to create spaces to be able to articulate those experiences.
Historically we’ve been erased from art, and we have a responsibility to re write herstory through art creating socially conscious narratives. It empowers us to support each other because we have that trust and healing space among each other. We only get stronger by coming together.”
Ni Santas x Ni Putas x Solo Muxeres
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Ni Santas at L.A. Freewaves' Love &/Or Hate, A Celebration of Genders
Notes from curator Natalia Ventura
Ni Santas makes me proud to be a Latina and an artist. The Los Angeles-based, all Latina artist collective formed simply because the members wanted to hang out and make art together. On the surface it doesn’t sound very revolutionary, but rarely does a group of Latinas get to hang out, make art, and be themselves without fearing danger or judgement. The collective found a way to create that space and heal together through art-making and community-building.
The inspiration behind the collective’s name comes from a chant used in protests against sexual violence in Mexico City: ““Ni putas, ni santas, solo mujeres.” In English it translates to, “Not sluts, not saints, just women.” The chant exposes the machismo and double standards that have an extreme hold on Latinx communities.
As a Latina who is affected by this machismo and double standards, I always tell my American friends to imagine that Latinx cultures are 30 years behind the U.S. in terms of liberation for women, if not more. The struggles we face are different from those of White women in the U.S. There are still deep-rooted gender roles, gender performance, homophobia and transphobia that artists like Ni Santas are calling out and fighting against through their work. I had the opportunity to Zoom with two members of Ni Santas to learn more about this work and why it’s important.
A conversation with Ni Santas
Natalia: How and when did you form? What are your goals and values? What is the significance behind your name?
Ni Santas: We formed in Summer 2016. Right now we have three members. The original founder made a callout on Instagram and a bunch of girls started showing up. They would meet twice a week. It was really welcoming, everyone came from different parts of the city, even though it was centered in Boyle Heights.
N: Was it mostly Latinx girls, or what kind of identities were you pulling in?
NS: Yeah, mostly Latinx and brown girls, women of color.
N: What role does identity play in your performance work?
NS: It’s super important. We try to prioritize women of color in the work we do. Most of the paintings in the art world are about women, but they’re in the male gaze. We like to give out our opinion and stories on how we see our lives from our point of view.
N: Can you talk a little bit about the performance work you’ve done as a group? How does group performance change the art?
NS: It feels like you’re more empowered because you’re in a group of people. It’s almost like you’re in a boy band. You just get more strength through numbers.
N: What was the context of the night you did your performance piece for L.A. Freewaves?
NS: L.A. Freewaves did a whole night of performances throughout Hollywood Blvd. We wanted to show the reality of what Hollywood was going through, like gentrification and how it’s so sexualized...it's very polarizing. You’re either super feminine or macho. So we just tried to give a sense of reality and take up space in Hollywood. We didn’t get the best reception cause some people were there to party and we were kind of ruining their fun (laughing).
N: Yeah, I feel like that’s part of it though. I’ve done some performance work myself and a lot of times it's about interrupting people’s daily routines to call attention to issues that are pertinent in your daily struggles. THe setting you did it in, in Hollywood, it represents America to the rst of the world because so much of our media comes out of Hollywood. It’s important to recognize the history of the city and the LA area. There’s this facade of what Hollywood is and it doesn’t acknowledge the rest of the population around it. So your performance is very powerful in that way.
MS: Thank you.
N: Did you form in response to Trump being elected? How did that admin affect your work as a collective?
NS: We didn’t start because of Trump, it just so happened to be. One he was in office, it was even more important to create a space to be safe and not feel judged. For me it’s more about hanging out and being together creating something than the art.
N: How did COVID affect making those spaces?
NS: The space we were working out of was closed to the public. We couldn’t have a gathering, period, because the space was closed.
N: Does having this change of administration and seeing a WOC as VP change things for your collective?
NS: I dont think it's gonna change anything. If you look at Harris and her history, she's not that progressive to begin with. With Trump at least we knew who our enemies were, and now it's like they’re going back into hiding. I’m wary of what’s going to happen in the future. It’s diversified imperialism. In reality it just makes me more nervous.
N: What role does art play in covert racism and continuing this era of social engagement and activism?
NS: Well art is propaganda...that’s how you move people. I hope nobody goes into sleep mode again. With art, you’re able to engage more people, so it plays a big role in informing. Even if they’re not into politics, you’re able to reach a larger amount of people with art.
You can follow Ni Santas on Instagram (@ni_santas) or visit their website (nisantas.org) to stay informed about their latest events and pieces. Their next event will be a virtual art workshop with our very own Chapman University Cross-Cultural Center. Click here to get more information.
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https://www.nisantas.org
