Quinceañera

Carmen Lomas Garza produces such beautiful artwork that many of her pieces remind me of my childhood and growing up in a Mexican American family.  Her artwork usually contains more than two or three people and I love that because it symbolizes our sense of community.  You do not have to necessarily come from a big family in order to create a strong community.  My favorite image from her collection would have to be Quinceañera, where she depicts a traditional Mexican party for a young girl. This celebration symbolizes the passage to womanhood for a young Mexican girl.  Having attended quinceañeras, this is usually what one would find at this celebration.  The girl who is being celebrated is usually accompanied by couples, which Garza depicts at the stairs of the church.  Usually the young girl must attend church before deciding to celebrate her 15^th birthday.  In Garza’s image, the father of the young girl is arriving with her to church in order to escort her in.  Children are running throughout the stairs of the church, which is very accurately.  Most of the time you will encounter chaos at this event.  In class we discuss how sometimes Carmen Lomas Garzas’ artwork is perceived as “folk art,” which was absurd.  Simply because she depicts traditional or family imagery does not make it “folk art.”  Her style is artistic in its own way and should not be classified as otherwise.