Santillan Olmos, Crystal (Week 5: Carmen Lomas Garza)

    This week, as I read through and studied the paintings by the artist Carmen Lomas Garza, I began to notice major differences in themes and trends of Chicana art. When studying Yolanda Lopez, we saw many themes of resistance, politics, and liberation. For Garza, we see less of that and more themes of family, nostalgia, and traditions shared across the Latino community that even this generation has experienced a lot of. To me, the painting by Garza that I most resonated with and shows me what Garza is known for is Quinceañera (Figure 60; 2001). 

    This piece really shows what Garza is known for, which is expressing themes of family, traditions in the latino community, and perspectives. The obvious tradition shown in this piece is the Quinceañera, the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, representing her maturing and womanhood as well as creating a stronger connection to God. It is a special occasion to celebrate the girl, unite as a larger family, and to spend time in the church. Garza’s pieces such as this one display a simpleness styles yet includes so much detail in everything that is painted on. In this piece, we see many perspectives of what is going on. We can see the ‘dramas’ all dressed in poofy pink dresses, the ‘chambelanas’ in their tuxedos and matching pink bowties, we see each character’s families as they support them, children running and playing around, and we can see the quinceañera girl with her father arriving in the back of a low rider. Already, I can see many things that I have seen myself at quinceañeras I have been to, from the girl fixing her tiara, to the importance of damas and chambelanes matching. But once I study the piece more closely, I can see deeper symbols such as one of the damas running around without her shoe and a chambelan barely putting on his tuxedo, symbolizing the trend of rushing in this occasions. I also like the inclusion of the lowrider, as it is common for latino families to escort the quinceañera in a fancy car. This piece overall just brings back many memories of my own quinceañera and many others. Garza helps me realize that not all Chicana art has to express political ideas and resistance. It feels nice to see something you can just relate to and laugh at even. In many of her pieces, she expresses these traditions like she showing us a piece of her own past life.