None of the artwork in this gallery is for sale

The feeling of finally being home should never be nostalgic; unfortunately, this is what many Mexican immigrant families experience. Nearly every time they come across that taste of ‘agua de Barro’ or the fresh scent of the field early in the morning, emotion will come over them and launch them right back into the times they spent in their homeland. Through my work, I move my audience (people of Mexican descent) to generate that feeling of nostalgia through the viewing of my images, paintings, and scents that remind them of Mexico.

The photograph De Chiquita is pivotal to my exhibition as it makes the connection for my audience that, through the sharing of stories, culture, and tradition through the generations this culture can thrive. I intend for the audience to feel nostalgic for experiencing the memories of Mexico through my work, but through De Chiquita, I am able to remind my audience that the memory of their past life in Mexico is not completely gone. Their children are able to continue their legacy and share those memories through images, paintings, drawings, traditions and aromas.

Additionally, my work La Santa is a painting of “La Santa Muerte”, otherwise known as “Death”, wearing the Virgin Mary; with this artwork, I intend to explore the notions of deception by disguising opposing religions most seen in Mexican tradition within one another. I do this to symbolize the deception immigrant families may or may not have faced coming to the US. Some Mexican Immigrant families are able to travel to and from Mexico whenever they please, however there are families that moved to the US and will never have the chance to go back to experience the land they cherished growing up. Yes, for many the US provided their children with better opportunities but they also would have reconsidered if they had known they would never see their parents or their homeland again. La Santa, is a representation of that feeling of deception Mexican immigrant families face everyday in the back of their mind.

I placed De Chiquita in the center of the exhibition along with La Santa in order to emphasize that although the experience of moving to the United States opens up many more opportunities in terms of work, education, freedom and growth, the feeling of being deceived remains a common factor in these immigrant stories.

La Dama and El Apache, are two of my works inspired by Mexican Loteria cards. These paintings are the depictions of Mexican men and women. I chose these two very specific cards because I intend them to contrast each other in the sense of societal expectation present in the Mexican culture. This is why they are placed parallel to each other in my exhibition but on opposite ends of my exhibition wall.

My paintings signed in calligraphy are intended to help audience members draw the connection to personal stories by including a drawing or painting of a variety of different states in Mexico and then labeling it in calligraphy to induce a feeling of elegance, freedom, and pride. My painting, Deja Que Salga La Luna, is inspired by a photograph taken of a Ballerina from the Back of the Yards Ballet Folklorico Group in my community. This is intentionally trying to move the audience into viewing the celebration and upbeat feeling of the spectacular that is the Mexican Culture. By placing the paintings Deja Que Salga La Luna and Hueseras parallel to each other and on either side of the pieces De Chiquita and La Santa, I intended for it to indicate the unity all states in Mexico have despite their differences. By creating this sort of honeycomb shape with the placement of all of my works I intended to bring them together however, individualizing each of the pieces through space and alignment.

None of the artworks in this gallery are for sale.

Contact the artist at Natalydlopez3@gmail.com