“Ruda Phat”: Uncovering ‘lonja’ and body image

By Elda Silva, San Antonio Express News

Lonja (lóne-hah).

The word slips off the tongue, propelled by breathy vowels. In Spanish, it’s commonly used to denote rolls of fat or love handles, but neither translation entirely does it justice.

“It’s very tactile — you can grab it,” said artist Ruth Leonela Buentello, one-fourth of the Chicana arts collective Más Rudas, describing the word’s strange allure.

An image of her collage of lonjas depicted in various forms — singular, multiple, rounded, blocky, droopy, protruding — and skin tones frames the entrance to “Ruda Phat,” the collective’s latest installation. The exhibit, which opened last week at the Institute of Texan Cultures, is an unflinching look at body image through the lens of the four members’ personal experiences.

Each of the artists, who range in age from 29 to 34, created individual works for the installation in different media, including painting, video, photography and textiles. They also collaborated on a piece: a large oval mirror framed with velvety ruffles and surrounded by images of beauty products that viewers must confront immediately upon entering the gallery. Above it, letters covered in sparkly purple glitter spell out “No Me Controles” — “Don’t Control Me.”

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo by Edward A. Ornelas, courtesy San Antonio Express-News]

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