Western Union Maid, from the Western Union Series
Primary
Tony Ortega
(Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1958–Denver, Colorado, present )
Place MadeDenver, Colorado, United States, North America
NationalityAmerican, North America
Date2008
MediumHand-colored solar etching
Dimensions19.5 x 8.5 in.
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gilberto Cárdenas Collection, Gift of Gilberto Cárdenas and Dolores Garcia, 2023.73
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number2023.73
On View
Not on viewCollection Highlight
Chicano artist Tony Ortega here uses a Western Union telegram as a backdrop for an etching of a domestic worker making a bed. Historically, the paper telegram was an essential service that U.S. workers utilized to send funds, or remesas, back to their families and friends in Mexico. In this series, Ortega honors domestic workers, but renders them anonymously as a critique of society’s tendency to make these workers invisible. When asked about his figures with no distinguishing facial features, Ortega remarked, “How deeply do we see the people who clean our schools, cut our lawns, take care of our children? Do we take a deep look into their faces? Are they invisible to us?” He based the central figure on his grandmother, who cleaned people’s homes and worked as a seamstress. During the summer, Ortega often accompanied her to these jobs. With most of his family working in the service industry, Ortega honors their labor, questioning why those who contribute to the economy and provide essential work are so often overlooked.
Exhibitions
![Los de Abajo [The Underdogs]](/internal/media/dispatcher/9056/thumbnail)
