Primitive Painting

Surreal

Y Que Con Cuerpo Vienen—And With What Body Do They Come?

Acrylic and oil on metal with metal sculpture on the frame.

In this series Maria employs combined myths to illustrate the journey to salvation and enlightenment. The martyr was a young Indian brutally murdered and dismembered by the Spanish Conqueror Cortez. From his blood, corn grew for the first time in Latin American countries. The painting also relates to the cannibalization of the Indian cultures by the Spanish in Latin America and the Portuguese in Brazil. It symbolizes how through suffering we gain salvation and realize enlightenment.

The sailor, who like most young people has lived a life seeking material and carnal pleasures, is now on his path to salvation and enlightenment. The sea symbolizes the return to the calming waters of the womb. The Jaguar is the father with whom he will be united. The mother snake engorges him at the final moment and spits him out, whereupon he becomes one with God, the Jaguar. This is an anthropomorphic explanation of the spiritual uniting with the material entity within us.

La Virgen illustrates the mythical and historical , erotic relationship between the god and the initiate seeking salvation. In this painting, the god is the jaguar. The jaguar in this anthropomorphic form can be found in Mexican religious and mythical folk art.

Los Desaparecidos refer in actuality to the many people that disappear in Latin American countries because of their political beliefs or for the whims of the dictator. This painting also refers to a person's solitude and loneliness . They exist, invisible to a society based on capitalistic values of greed and disregard for humanity and culture.

Click on any of the thumbnails below to display a larger version of the image.