Can this master printmaker live up to her idol?
What happens when legacy, artistry, and womanhood collide? Visual artist LaToya Hobbs creates a stunning woodcut portrait of Naima Mora, inspired by the life and work of legendary printmaker Elizabeth Catlett—Naima’s own grandmother. Follow LaToya’s journey as she travels to Mexico, visits Catlett’s original studio, and dives into the spirit and soul behind Black womanhood, artistic legacy, and personal strength. Through reflections from Naima and LaToya, we explore themes of identity, resilience, softness, and the power of artistic lineage. Elizabeth Catlett, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, used her bold prints and dynamic sculptures to address the injustices she both witnessed and experienced. Drawing on a diverse array of influences—from African and Pre-Columbian art to Pop, German Expressionism, and American and Mexican modernism—her work is a testament to her revolutionary vision.
Director, Editor, Videographer : Chad Lawrence
Executive Producer: Scott Keiner
Senior Producer : Karla Carnewal
Videographers: John Benam, Nicholas Donnelly, Adam Enatsky, Amelia Mylvaganam
Sound Recordist & Mixer : John Conway
Artist: LaToya M. Hobbs
Model: Naima Mora
Curatorial Consultant: J.V. Decemvirale
Cabello Print Studio: Raul Cabello, Ana Iturbe, Armando Ortega, Silvia Tinoco
Production Coordinator: Goto McCagg
Assistant Production Coordinator: Amelia Mylvaganam
Development Coordinator: Sarah M. Turner
Interpretation & Curatorial: Lynn Matheny
Additional Production Services: The Biscuit Factory
Mexico Unit
Producers: Moises Aisemberg, Juan Sarquis
Line Producer: Isaac Montecillo Veloz
Unit Production Manager: Roberto Carrera
Production Assistant: Brian Aguilera
Director of Photography: Eduardo Sin Otero
B Camera Operator: Lorenza Clapp
Camera Assistant: Zuriel “Jimmy” Quiroz
Second Assistant Camera: Oscar Alan Sánchez Gutiérrez
Sound Mixer: Raquel Bellver
Boom Operator: Abel Delgado
Color VTR: Kory de Jesus
DIT: Saul Peña
Video Playback Operator: Juan Guzmán
Gaffer: Antonio Betancourt
Grip and Electric: Mauricio Delgado
Catering: Ixtel Léon Lunches Catering, Leticia Urrutia
Transportation: Adrián Acosta, Miguel Ángel León, Oscar Herrera Lizardi, Ignacio Velazquéz Juárez
Thanks: Luis Baquedano, Theresa Beall, Joy Borja, Dwayne Brown, Raul Cabello, Brian Dooda, Katie DeMamiel Horner, El Mariachi Alma De México, Michelle Facini, Lehua Fisher, Kate Haw, LaToya M. Hobbs, Larry Hyman, Ana Iturbe, Gaugin Cabello Iturbe, Ariston Jacks, Donna Kirk, Shelly Langdale, Jamie Lowe, Francisco Mora Catlett, Juan Mora Catlett, David Mora Catlett, and their families, Chris Murphy, Armando Ortega, E. Carmen Ramos, Dena Rapoport, Frederick Scott, Nick Sharp, Anthony Thomas, Jonathan Thomas, Silvia Tinoco, Kyle Van Horn, Rashieda Witter, Barbara Wood
Images: © 2017. Los Angeles Times. © 2024 Mora-Catlett Family / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchased as the gift of Jeffrey A. Legum, Baltimore; BMA 2013.5, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio, Gift of Louis Held, Collection of Sheryll Cashin and Marque Chambliss, Catlett Papers, Amistad Center, Tulane, New Orleans, CBS Photo Archive / Getty, Exhibitions Fund, Centro e la Imagen Archive, Secretaria de Cultura, Mexico, Courtesy of The Charles White Archives, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, From the Hampton University Museum Collection, Hampton, VA, Courtesy of LaToya M. Hobbs, Jackson State University / Getty
Photocredit: © Jacob Fine Art 2023, Collection of La Salle University Art Museum
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, © Nancy Lee Katz, © Photo: Fern Logan Look Magazine, Guatemala, México: Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana, 1984, Courtesy of Naima Mora, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund and Purchased as the Gift of Art Information Volunteers in Honor of Dianne Stephens, Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter, Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Peter Schneider and Susan DeJarnatt, University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Museum purchase, 2006.59 © Mariana Yampolsky, Photograph © Adriana Zehbrauskas
Footage: "Sculpting the Truth" excerpts courtesy © L and S Video Inc., Adobe Stock
Music: “El Son de la Negra” Performed by El Mariachi Alma De México, “Harbinger” Composed by Ariston, Mass Creator
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