Wittliff Collections: ‘Fronteriza Collaborations and World Making’

By Jissela Cabrera

Executive Director of News

The Wittliff Collections hosted “Wellspring | Manantial: Fronteriza Collaborations and World Making,” an event featuring photographs by artist M. Jenea Sánchez and members of the women’s collective Dougla Prieta Trabajan.

The exhibition, part of the Wellspring series, honors the vision of Bill and Sally Wittliff and their dedication to preserving the cultural heritage of Southwest Texas and Mexico.

During the event, Sánchez discussed how her experiences growing up along the U.S.-Mexico border shaped her community-based and socially engaged art. She highlighted long-standing collaborations rooted in shared labor, community knowledge and collective image-making.

Sánchez was born and raised in Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. She earned her MFA from Arizona State University in 2011 before returning to Douglas to pursue a career as an artist.

In her presentation, “Power Making Through Power Sharing: Self-Portraiture and Collective Labor in the Borderlands,” Sánchez discussed her first project after graduate school, which she began in her hometown of Douglas.

The project was a response to what she described as controversial and confusing conversations about immigration and border life that she encountered in the classroom.

She said she was particularly inspired by Amelia Malagamba, a Southwest borderlands scholar and assistant professor at Arizona State University, whom she encountered in a Borderlands Art course.

“We had a project in the border art class, with Doctora Amelia Malagamba, one of the most influential professors in my career, because again, she introduced me to artists that you see in these galleries here,” Sánchez said.

“I saw myself on those white walls; I was so inspired by just the materiality of what she was doing.”

Sánchez also discussed her long-standing collaborations with fellow ASU alumna Gabriela Muñoz.

The two developed different approaches to their artistic processes and have collaborated since graduate school, creating large-scale installations focused on women, identity and the borderlands.

Their collaboration began with a project for the Borderlands Art course.

“It really opened this new way of thinking, way of reading, vocabulary, and we had an option to write a 10-page paper or make a project,” Sánchez said.

“And so, I was riding my bike from the art building and saw Gabriela, and said, like, ‘Yo, do you want to collaborate, or are you going to write a paper?’ Kind of situation; like, ‘Do you want to do something together?’ And she accepted the informal invitation!”

Following the presentation, Sánchez and Q&A moderator Adetty Pérez de Miles spoke with students and attendees, answering questions about Sánchez’s experiences, artistic process and work.

Sánchez also discussed how her interest in photography and videography developed at a young age. She credited her mother, who frequently documented family experiences, with inspiring her to document her own life and experiences with her cousins.

“Growing up, my mom was like the documenter of the family — she has, like, flash drives, boxes of flash drives because her phone fills up so fast,” Sánchez said.

“But back in the ’90s, she was the one with the 35-millimeter cameras, so she has boxes of film. So, I just saw her. She would never say she was a photographer; she was just taking pictures of her nieces and nephews and the family at birthday parties, at every chance she would get.”

Sánchez said she was especially drawn to film photography and VHS video. She and her cousins would make videos during sleepovers, creating what she described as “crazy videos” and commercials.

“I just grew up watching her, and I was just fascinated, especially by the film photography,” Sánchez said. “She was also big on documenting through VHS video, so that was kind of my interest as a kid.”

Sánchez said her interest in collaborating with women also grew naturally from her relationships with the women in her family and her emphasis on self-representation.

“So, as far as my interest in women, I think it was just a natural draw to do it,” Sánchez said.

“I feel really happy when I am with my Tías and my mom. Like, I feel the most happy in the kitchen, just listening to their stories, and as we get older, we learn. As an artist, there’s gaps in art history, and so definitely, I discovered the gaps of women photographers and representation and its self-representation.”

During the post-event reception, Sánchez reflected on her experiences as a Latina artist and expressed gratitude for the people who have supported her throughout her career.

“Being a Latina in the field of art is amazing; it can be really fabulous,” Sánchez said.

“As a working artist mom, it can get complicated, of course. But if it wasn’t for the support of my family, my husband, my mom, my aunts, just the community that supports what happens in the background, like helping me take the kids to school and all the things that need to happen to run a house, I just wouldn’t be where I am.”

Sánchez said her work is built on the support of her family and the women artists who came before her.

“So, I’m here on the shoulders of my family, and the many amazing female artists in this exhibition here. It’s lucky enough to be a part of a lineage where we can self-represent, and so that’s what I’m really excited about as an artist and also working with women like Dougla Prieta Trabajan, who are representing themselves as well.”

Visit Sánchez’s website and Instagram to learn more about her multidisciplinary collection, Fronteriz Collective.