When Patricia Cunliffe happened upon the idea for her upcoming documentary film "A Language of Passion," her passions at the time involved art more than film. Upon attending an opening of a number of her contemporaries, it dawned on her that Latino born artists produced some of the best work in the show, and yet little of their work involved Latino themes. And, yet again, they were grouped as "Latino Artists."
Herself of Spanish and Native American descent, from Santa Fe, NM, Patricia rarely produced work with cultural themes, but of a more universal language called "ART." In so recognizing this fact, she decided to do a documentary revolving around five renowned artists who are also of Latino origin. For the last two years she has documentaed every aspect of these artists lives to support her hypothesis that "art is art" and that to indiscriminately tag all art producedby Latinos as "Latino Art" is incorrect.
"Patricia's effort to make a film concerning several Latino artists is needed not only for it's attempt to portray Latino artists in a universal light, but also because of the dire lack of film on fine artists of any background presented to the general public," Rudy Calderon explains, "Patricia approaches the subject of documenting my work and myself with a genuine interest and love for art. The artist in her makes me comfortable to express my views and convictions as to art and life."
A Language of Passion is a montage of episodes in the lives of muralist Eloy Torrez, sculptor Cecilia Miguez, stone carver Rudy Calderon, altar maker Vibian Aparicio Chamberlin and painter Arturo Mallmann, who now reside in Los Angeles, though they come from New Mexico, Uruguay, Costa Rica, East LA and Argentina, respectively.
Director Cunliffe, in the process of documenting two years of their lives, not only creates an intimate profile of these artists, but has in fact become a friend and confidant with a number of them. If it is true that the subject of an artists work best be something that they are familiar with, then Ms. Cunliffe maintains the integrety of that adage. And though the film seems ambitious by nature, its director never loses sight of their, or our own, basic humanity.