La Reina de las Mujeres Chicas [The Queen of the Petite Women] (2016)
8.5 in. x 11 in. (21.59 x 27.94 cm)
Graphite and wax on paper
Donald “C-Note” Hooker
La Reina de las Mujeres Chicas (The Queen of the Petite Women) is a work on paper by California prison artist C-Note, the world’s most prolific prison artist.
The work features a graphite drawing of a young cigar smoking Mexican woman who’s wearing a belt with bullets. The green ocean, red clouds, and white sky rendered with wax is an homage to the flag of Mexico and its people.
“I really admire the work of the imprisoned Chicano artist,” says C-Note. “So when I saw this pattern amongst other patterns from an imprisoned Chicano artist, I wanted to trace it for my own personal use. I could put a spin to it.”
Prison art, especially amongst Hispanic prisoners, use a kind of stencil. It is from these stencils or patterns that they trace onto a surface before shading, predominantly through the use of…
