[3] Valdez recalls that during the time she was growing up in Los Angeles, racism, police brutality and poor schools were a big problem.
"[4] Many of her performances with Asco took place in areas where there had recently been gang conflict or fatal shootings of individuals by the police.
[4] She and the other founders of Asco had seen that a disproportionate number of Mexican-Americans were singled out for the Vietnam draft: this and "the sight of their friends returning in body bags and the elite political class's apathy to their plight scarred all the members.
[4] Valdez relates how she was "always angry" as a young person watching movies "because she never saw the beautiful Mexicans she knew on screen.
"[11] Valdez' installations are considered feminist works that defy cultural expectations of a woman's role in society.
"[13] Valdez's multi disciplinary Avant Garde practice has encompassed various mediums, including her lesser known works in Fashion Design.
It was said that in a 2014 conversation at The University of Nottingham's with Lucy Bradknock Valdez described her relationship with fashion during her time within her the Asco Chicano Art collective in a way that revealed the importance fashion held in her designs as an expression of the times underlying socio-economic and political concerns as a Chicana Feminist artist.
The exhibition and accompanying publication is an expansive take on the Chicano experience and its intersection with contemporary art narratives from the 1960s to present day.