Carmen Lomas Garza

 This art piece called Tamalada by Carmen Lomas Garza was painted in 1988 that is in a private collection. I decided to choose this piece because it was one that I could connect to on a deeper level. In this art piece, we can see a group of people in a kitchen making tamales, which are a traditional Mexican dish made with cornmeal dough stuffed with meat and chile. While preparing this dish, there is Carmen's mother spreading the dough on the cornhusk, while Carmen, her sister, and her grandfather soaking the cornhusks in a big pot with water. We can also see Carmen's father and a little girl in the doorway with the little girl standing on her father's feet. We can see in this art piece that preparing the tamales requires many people. There is the group of people that soak the cornhusks, the people that spread the dough on the cornhusks, the people that put the meat and chile and wrap the tamales, and then the people that organize them in a pan ready to be cooked. This work of art has a very playful tone to it and represents a custom and gathering that Mexican culture brings. I illustrates family coming together and making food for the holidays or gathering, and family is one of the most important values in the Mexican culture. I can connect to this because, every Christmas or Thanksgiving, my family and I would sit around the table and make tamales. It was usually my mom, younger sister, and my oldest brother because they wouldn't let me help because they say I put too much masa and little carne. But it usually be the way that Carmen Lomas Garza portrayed it in this work of art. And when I see this, it just reminds me of the times I spent with my family.