Maya Gonzalez: Portrait of the Artist  as a Radical Children's Book Illustration

Mira Reisberg

Mira Reisberg Northern Illinois University

Abstract

A film, the film transcript (Appendix A), and this article are presented here together as a unit in Visual Culture & Gender, volume 3. Together and separately they elucidate the interconnections between the life and work of Maya Gonzalez, a fine artist and children's book illustrator. Maya Gonzalez identifies herself as a queer-focused, lesbian Chicana with a nature-based spirituality. Because her life and work are rich with critical rhizomatic themes, I have narrowed my focus to four roots within this rhizome-gender, race, sexuality, and environment, although many other threads are embedded within these constructs. To frame this story of an artist working for social and environmental justice through visual culture, I employ Gloria Anzaldúa’s theoretical work on "conocimiento," a creative process of coming to know that leads to social activism.

Author Biography

Mira Reisberg, Northern Illinois University

Mira Reisberg, Ph.D., teaches art education at Northern Illinois University. Her teaching and research practices are located at the intersection of art, culture (or ethnicity), place, and environment as mediated through childrenâ€™s picture books and other visual culture sources. Her theoretical interests include critial race theory, critical place-based art education, postcolonial studies, a/r/tography, conocimiento, and visual culture. Prior to becoming an academic, Mira taught art in K-12 schools, illustrated picturebooks, and exhibited her personal art, some of which can be seen at www.mirareisberg.com. Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to the author at mreisberg@ niu.edu.