Artist Ana Penyas's grandmothers Maruja and Herminia live alone in their
respective Spanish towns, largely neglected by their children and
relatives, who never visit. But when Ana comes to see them, she realizes
that these women, whose day-to-day existences now seem mundane,
experienced firsthand an incredibly tumultuous and fascinating period of
Spanish history.
In We're All Just Fine, Penyas weaves the memories of her grandmothers
to craft a narrative quilt that pieces together what it was like for
women to assimilate to Spain's dramatic political and cultural shifts in
the late 1970s and '80s. The sudden transition from the authoritarian,
repressive Franco regime to lively and liberating democracy was at once
incredibly freeing but also destabilizing for women used to their
traditional roles as dutiful housewives. Through this intimate lens into
her grandmothers' daily struggle -- of their silence, the small acts of
rebellion, and great gestures of resilience -- Penyas gives voice to an
entire generation of "invisible'' women whose stories have rarely been
told. Combining collage and rough-hewn pencil drawings, and mixing past
and present, Penyas offers a decidedly feminist tribute to the forgotten
lives and legacies of her grandmothers.
