- [Alessandra] The San Diego region is home to many artists who work in an assortment of media.

As a curator and educator, I want to know what inspires these creatives.

This is "Insights Into Art."

(upbeat music) On this episode of "Insights Into Art," I'm meeting with artist Claudia Cano and her alter ego, Rosa, on Mount Soledad.

To get into character, Claudia gets ready at home, but never at the location where she performs.

When she's Rosa, she never breaks character and only speaks in Spanish.

(Rosa speaking in Spanish) - [Alessandra] Claudia's work as Rosa is part performance art and part protest.

(both speaking in Spanish) - This day is a little bit chilly.

- Si, it is.

- It's great to see you.

- Great to see you too as well.

- [Alessandra] So tell us about Rosa, the alter ego that you created.

- Ah, Rosa is a complex alter ego as other alter egos that I've been creating throughout the last, you know, 11 years.

But Rosa is the one that is close to my heart.

Rosa was created based on ideas of, you know, subtle racism, social class, gender, and migration.

So thinking about how to represent women in, you know, open spaces or white spaces like museums and galleries, I thought about like why not to become Rosa, to become that woman that, you know, it's invisible most of the time.

So yeah, that's pretty much how I started.

- When you work with this character of Rosa, you do it both yourself as a performer, but you also have a background as a photographer.

So you also document Rosa and her work and her performances.

So can you tell us a little bit about the performance aspect of it?

- So I decided to be the photographer, you know, like doing the documentation of the performances.

Later on when Rosa was known, you know, little by little, she started getting gigs.

As I call them, she started getting jobs in galleries and open spaces.

Then I had to hire, you know, someone else to do it.

- Actually take the photograph.

- To actually document it, which actually is my son.

And we have a very strict dynamic.

He's a videographer and an artist himself.

So we have been like partnering in this journey of documenting Rosa for the last 11 years.

Now, in terms of how do I start performing?

Well, when I was studying communications in Mexico, I also was part of the theater club and I also work in TV.

So being in front of a camera is very common for me and also, you know, documenting self-portraits, you know, teaching photography.

When I moved here, I decided to experiment.

Now, in terms of what I do for the process, like how I become Rosa, well, it's a ritual.

Yeah, and I have to be in the zone, right?

And, you know, I become Rosa at home.

Usually, I never show up, you know... - As Claudia.

- As Claudia, and then become Rosa.

And she was born pretty much at home.

It's very domestic.

My practice is quite domestic.

So I have to tell whoever's at home that Rosa will be present.

So my family, in this case, you know, my husband has to respect the practice and there's no conversation.

So the ritual starts when I cut my nails, you know, like Rosa has like short nails, very clean.

I play the music.

I have to dress.

She has her own, you know, like underwear, everything, you know, it's everything in a box.

The wig actually is the last part of Rosa becoming her.

- Of the transformation?

- Of the transformation, yeah.

So it's always the same, you know, like socks, the uniform.

I iron the uniform.

I iron the apron.

She has her own escapulario.

I created that special piece for her where it's a Malverde one side and a dollar in another, and she has a couple of them.

And Guadalupe, right?

And another scapular.

So I put them on and, you know, like fix the wig, put everything on, and the last is the wig.

And then it's Rosa.

- Also, I think what is really important and becomes kind of iconic of all the photographs and the images and the performance is this idea of the uniform.

And the uniform I think plays a big, big role in this piece too.

- Social class plays a big role in Mexico.

So in order for Rosa to exist in this world, she needs to be distinguished with the pink uniform, Rosa, and Rosa's uniform or pink uniform.

But I can tell you that here in La Jolla, there are plenty of cleaning ladies that wear a uniform.

And I've seen them also, you know, like in LA cleaning hotels.

The uniform is like, they have to wear a uniform.

So pretty much it stands out as a way of, you know, social class and playing the role of the labor.

- When people who know you and see you as Rosa approach you, you don't speak English.

- No, yeah, well, you know... - So that is also something about code switching too, you know, that we think of like important ways that we navigate kind of culture and class and many things, but yeah.

So the language also, the choice of the language is also important.

- I remember one time, you know, she was sweeping the floor in a gallery and it was like a little bit, you know, slippery.

So Rosa approached this lady and asked her like to move and just watch how the floor is wet in Spanish.

And the lady got really, really upset, you know, like turned to her and say, "I don't speak Spanish."

So, you know, pushing the boundaries, pushing the limits, pushing the buttons in a very kind, nice way, it is important.

It's part of, you know, the performance.

It's not... We know in the art world that performance are sometimes edgy or like pushes a lot of the boundaries and it's like... In my case, I tried to do it very, very, very gentle, slow.

It does not have to be, you know, imposing.

Sometimes she goes unnoticed and the only performance act of, or the outcome of the performance is the photographer and me performing Rosa.

And that's okay too.

- That brings me to all the different spaces that Rosa enters, right?

As a character, sometimes in a gallery or a museum, but then you also have inserted Rosa as a character like by the border, seeing Rosa in uniform, sweeping.

So can you tell us about when you filmed at the border, when you took the picture on the border?

- It was probably the second still performance that I decided to do.

It was in a weekday.

Friendship Park was still open to the public.

It's been closed since 2021 due to health hazards and lack of staff.

So we're talking about 2013.

So I called my husband.

I said to him, "If you don't hear from me, please look for me."

I'm leaving my cell phone, you know, at camp.

You know, part of the performance is not to be in contact with reality, so to become Rosa."

So I walked to the park, placed the camera.

Rosa actually started sweeping when officers, La Migra show up.

They were five and they began asking Rosa.

And obviously Rosa cannot break character and started, you know, like the questions started like, "What are you doing here?

Why..." And Rosa just decided to say, "Well, I'm sweeping."

And "Arte?"

they asked, and Rosa said, "Si."

So they let her be herself.

And when most of the officers left, one of them came back and said to me in Spanish: (Claudia speaking in Spanish) So for me, that was the key of becoming a performance artist, not only stills.

I decided to, you know, like extend the time, be more proactive, asking people if they wanted me to bring Rosa into their private spaces or public spaces.

So the border has been a very specific and very special place for me to perform.

It's a misfortune that it's closed.

- [Alessandra] This has been an insightful and revealing look into performance art, a social commentary and critique.

Thank you to Rosa and Claudia Cano for sharing your motivation and process.

(light music)