Chismosas seeks to redefine the negative connotations associated with the term for women engaging in gossip (or chisme) by demonstrating that these conversations can be politically constructive, transformative, and an opportunity for women to cultivate community. Chismosas navigates these intricacies by highlighting ways in which domestic spaces function as pivotal hubs for this dialogue.
We recognize that the existence of many domestic spaces is a testament to the history of exclusion in male-dominated spaces. As young women growing into our artistic voices, it’s important for us to have discussions around claiming and creating space for women and nonbinary individuals. Part of our work in creating these spaces was through co-hosting Collectiva Ella in Mission Gráfica, a space for femme and nonbinary folk with an interest in printmaking to come together. Printmaking, a medium which feels inherently political and conversational for us, is also a medium that has at many points in history excluded women and queer artists. Through our artistic practices, we embrace printmaking as both a political act and a conversation in itself.
We invited visitors to engage with our ongoing conversations by inviting them into our “home”. We invite you to think about the possibilities and importance of chisme, and by extension, the ways in which women have taken advantage of the domestic spaces they have cultivated, despite the existence of these spaces often being a result of exclusion.