Week 5 F2014CastagnaRenee

The artist I enjoyed the most this week was Yreina Cervantez.  I enjoyed the way she incorporated indigenous influences into her art. The piece that stood out to me the most was Balam Baby.  Another element of indigenous influence is the title, wherein Balam is Mayan for Jaguar.

This piece is done in the style of Olmec sculpture.  The Olmec are considered the "Mother Culture" of mesoamerica, predating the Mexica and the Maya.  The similarity in style is evident in the down turned mouth and the eye shape.  There are theories about the olmec and these sculptures and there origins.  There are hundreds of olmec "baby" sculptures that have been found in connection with the Olmec.  There are some hypotheses that suggest that when children were born with Down's syndrome or other birth defects, the babies would be worshipped among the Olmec.  Yreina captured this element of indigenous art so perfectly in her piece, and painted a woman with very indigenous features and skin tone, rather than a Eurocentric one.