These Mexican Women and Artists are Making Their Own Space in the Denver Art Scene

Story by Addison Herron-Wheeler and Lillian Lara 

Multimedia Artists Lilian Lara (she/her) and Yurintzi Serrato Cano (she/her) are a powerful artistic duo. Mastering new mediums with every project they complete, from paint and fabric to paper and clay, they take on every challenge with charm and whimsy. But this creative pairing and friendship is relatively new, really only emerging after the pandemic. 

How did these two artists find community and connection? Though art, and through each other. 

“We actually didn’t meet in person for about a year!” laughs Lara. “Once the pandemic lessened a bit, and some restrictions were lifted, we were able to meet up.”

The two were connected because they were both involved in spaces that celebrated Mexican culture and art, but their connection grew far beyond that starting point. Now, the two have collaborated on many projects together, including the recent Paper Fashion Show in Denver. Since both are pretty private people, it took a lot for them to jump into this partnership. 

“Making friends in your 30s is hard and takes a lot of work and dedication,” explains Serrato Cano. “But we took that chance, and it actually worked out really well for us—we clicked and wanted to try our best to communicate well with each other.” 

Laying the groundwork for their friendships, both were able to share about their neurodivergence and how that influences their individual communication styles. “This was really important to me because of the fact that I’m autistic,” elaborates Serrato Cano. “It takes me a little while to pick up on these things, so it’s like, please tell me; if you don’t tell me, then I don’t know.” Being able to share these vulnerabilities with each other helped strengthen their bond. “I have ADHD, which gives me a little bit of time blindness,” shares Lara. “I’m very bad at keeping up with people, but Yuri totally gets that. She knows that if I don’t check in, it’s not personal.”

Being able to find another person to share art, fashion, and culture has been great for the duo’s mental health. “Finding someone who shares my love of dressing with outrageous pageantry has been so nice!” exclaims Lara. “We talk about what we found at thrift stores and where we should wear our amazing outfits, like, we literally send pictures to each other” laughs Serrato Cano. While this friendship is still new, both have found a deep sense of belonging and community with each other, especially coming out of the pandemic. 

This extends beyond deciding their next fashion outfits and delves deeper to include their identity as Mexican women. The interplay between their Mexican roots, aspects of assimilation, and the reinvention of the norm is a common talking point for Lara and Serrato Cano. 

“We see ourselves as artists who happen to be Mexican” clarifies Lara. “Our Mexican background influences our outlook and approach to how we make art, but it does not define it.” Both artists are fluent Spanishs speakers,  and while they inhabit both worlds, they feel they do not belong to either one.

“We like reinventing who we are and playing with everything that makes us, us!” illustrates Serrato Cano. “We wore our artistic interpretation of indigenous dress with clothing we made; it’s not how people are used to seeing it, but it resonated with us.” Restyling traditional clothing is a way for them to envision a new reality, a physical amalgamation of all the powerful influences in their lives. 

Navigating these powerful influences and their own connection to community can be difficult, moreso when seeking professional guidance that can understand the cultural intricacies of the issues they face. “It was hard to find a professional to talk to, even with insurance!” explains Lara. “I had to be on waitlists for several places, and even when I did get to see someone, I didn’t even know how or where to start.” 

“Mental health is not something we talk about” Serrato Cano admits. “Seeing a therapist means you’re crazy. It’s starting to change, but still.” While the culture about mental health, in the U.S. is starting to change, it still lags behind for the Latinx community. 

“We, as a community, don’t reach out for mental health services and when we do it’s hard to find someone who is from the same cultural background who can understand where we’re coming from” describes Lara. While there are current efforts focusing on more holistic approaches to mental health that serve to lower stigma and increase access, there is still a lot to do.   

“We check in with each other, you know, to make sure the other one is doing ok” expresses Serrato Cano. “We come up with things to do for fun to, like, cheer ourselves up” affirms Lara. 

Similarly, the two provide a safe space for each other when it comes to their identities. Serrato Cano identifies under the queer umbrella, and while some more conservative facets within Mexican culture may not be queer affirming—much like in the U.S.—the two rely on each other for support and community. 

 “I’m bi, but I don’t advertise it,” Serrato laughs. “It’s like I want to save myself the ‘it’s just a phase” conversation. Apparently I’ve been going through a ‘phase’ since I was 12.”

Indigenous Mexican and Aztec culture actually does have a rich history of deities embodying both the male and female, but much of that has been lost to colonization. Today, folks like Lara and Serrato Cano make their own traditions of love and acceptance. 

The pride in their version of Mexican culture and heritage and the joy in sharing their visual creations was apparent on the day of the shoot and in these photos. These two have found a beautiful way to navigate their mental health and passion for art and fashion, and we look forward to what they do next.   

Photos by Roxanna Carrasco, Photographer Assistant: Luke Schott, Creative Direction by Rachel Galstad, Models: Yurintzi Serrato Cano and Lillian Lara, All clothing made by Serrato Cano and Lara Earrings provided by: @AnaMarinaStudio, Location: @TonantzinCasaDeCafe and  Sweatshop Dance Studio Denver.  Follow Serrato Cano on socials at @ArteYurintzi and Lara at @LilianLaraStudio.