"Condorito Goes to Canada" Nuit Blanche Piece 2018
This is a piece done for Nuit Blanche in 2018 which reflects the theme of 'You Are Here'. I interpreted this piece with my experience as a Chilean immigrant. In a literal sense I used to be in Chile but now I am 'here', in Canada.
For this piece I combined 2 well known comic strips. I integrated the style of the Condorito comics for the theme of immigration. I also incorporated the style of the 'New Yorker' strips which often depicts criticisms and societal commentary.
Condorito (on the left) is a cartoon character famous in Southern America. Although he was famous in several Southern American countries, he was originally invented in Chile. Therefore, I used Condorito to symbolize the Chilean aspect of this piece. In addition to being a Chilean invented character, Condorito is also an Andean Condor which is Chile's national bird. In the drawing Condorito is wearing traditional huaso clothes to emphasize his Chilean origin.
To represent Canda I chose to make a mountie character which resembles Condorito's girlfriend in the comics (his girlfriend is named Yayita). This female character is symbolic of the Canadian aspect of my piece. This is established in her mountie uniform.
Then in additon to these two main characters, this piece contains duality within symbols of the piece. An example of this is the mountains in the background. Which mountains are those? Well, Chile is iconic for the Andes Mountains. Canada is iconic for the Rocky Mountains. This is how the theme of duality lies in this work.
Another piece of duality in the symbolism is seen in the horses which the characters are riding. The horse ridden by the mountie is conservative and looks at the other horse quizzically for it's odd behaviour. Meanwhile, the horse under Condorito is dancing. This is because often times in Chilean culture the horses are trained to do the national dance which is La Cueca.
In a manner, the interaction and differences between the horses is a commentary on the differences of culture between the two places. It also raises a conversation on how differences are taken by other countries and attitudes towards outsiders.
Another interaction which is key is the interaction between the Mountie and Condoritio. Condorito is flirtatious while the Mountie smiles back at him. This is another commentary on immigrant' attitudes towards a new place and how the new place may receive them. The mountie in the image looks at Condorito with a smile. She neither rejects or returns his feelings.
This piece was digitally made and then printed and hand coloured. Touch ups were done with a fine tip black pen.
