For online Dartmouth exhibition

"Amenaza Nacional"-line etch, aquatint, selective wiping, monotype

This print is a continuation of the Violence Against Women series I started in my first semester of printmaking. It addresses the torture of female political prisoners in Latin American countries. Women are taken captive either because they themselves are active in rebelling against the military dictatorships that are ruling their countries, or because they have some relation to men who are politically active. In this case, the men are also abducted and forced to watch their daughters/wives/sisters being abused in order to get them to reveal information. Whatever the motive behind their imprisonment, the women are subject to horrific physical violations and psychological abuse with the intent of stripping away their dignity. For example, like I have depicted in this image, women have the word "mirista" (terrorist, roughly translated) carved into their breasts or foreheads and cigarettes extinguished on various body parts. What these prisoners go through for attemtping to speak their minds is unthinkable, especially when taking into consideration that many of the militiamen who are carrying out these atrocities were likely trained by the School of the Americas/WHINSEC in the United States, where free speech and democracy are supposedly central values.

An artist that we have looked at so far this semester that I would cite as an influence for this print is Malaquias Montoya, because my content is related to his focus on Latin American sociopolitical issues.