The Shorthorn - Alumna displays a piece depicting her German-Hispanic heritage

Alumna displays a piece depicting her German-Hispanic heritage

Written by Alanna Quillen

Thursday, 04 December 2008 10:20 PM

Alumna Hannah Frieser currently exhibits “Tortilla Wall” at Texas Woman’s University. Frieser expresses her cross-cultural background through the use of tortillas. (Courtesy Photo: Shannon Draw)

A university alumna used tortillas to transform a lifetime of memories into a work of art.

Art photographer Hannah Frieser has an exhibition on display at Texas Woman’s University that celebrates Latino family tradition through the eyes of a person with a cross-cultural background.

One of the works, “Tortilla Wall,” expresses her interest in her cultural identity through short stories, bright colors and vintage photographs in a 40-frame collection.

“I often hear from others that seeing the work makes them want to preserve the stories in their own family,” she said.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany to a German father and Hispanic mother, Frieser grew up with her siblings and father’s family.

Her interest in photography began when her mother gave her a camera when she was 8 years old. She said her first photographs included her cat, best friend and bad sunset photos.

“The photographs I took as a kid were very straightforward,” Frieser said. “None of them were masterpieces, but they show that I was looking at everything around me.”

Frieser learned the German culture and language, but remained distant from her Hispanic side in the U.S.

“All I knew about America was stories my mother had told me and what I saw on TV,” she said.

At 19, Frieser came to Dallas to see it for herself. She went to Richland College for a year and then transferred to UTA, where she took part in graphic projects, volunteered for the Society of Photographic Education and was a Student Art Association officer.

She graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on art photography, journalism and graphic design and earned her master’s in Fine Art at TWU.

Photography professor Kenda North, Frieser’s former art teacher and mentor at UTA, said she’s impressed by Frieser’s commitment to be a professional in the field.

“I’m inspired by her skills as a writer and her personal work that addresses cross-cultural issues,” she said.

Frieser worked for SPE for 11 years and now serves as the director for Light Work, a nonprofit photography organization in Syracuse, N.Y.

“When I’m not working, I still take classes in different arts,” she said. “It helps to keep me inspired.”

It took half a year for Frieser to create the “Tortilla Wall,” where she practiced making tortillas and laying images over them.

“It took 250 attempts to get what I saw in my head,” she said. “While making them, I thought of what it meant to be German and Hispanic.”

Frieser’s fondest memories with her family involved making tortillas, a tradition in her mother’s family for generations.

“Making tortillas is a tradition that is all but lost,” she said. “My grandmother still made hundreds of tortillas but today, it’s too convenient to just go to the grocery store.”

Frieser said the “Tortilla Wall” ultimately helped her connect with her Hispanic family.

“I was surprised and happy to see her interest in my family,” her mother Martha Ann Frieser said. “Making tortillas brought me and my mom together, and the project did the same for Hannah and I.”
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