Yolanda Lopez: Nuestra Madre Piece

One piece from Yolanda Lopez that I want to focus on is called Nuestra Madre that was painted from 1981-88 that is a part of the Guadalupe series. This art piece is another rendition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, but instead of Guadalupe it is an Pre-Columbian Aztec goddess named Tonantzin. In Nuestra Madre, Tonantzin is portrayed as a statue with her hands facing up, topless, and wearing a skirt with snakes wrapping around it. Yolanda Lopez decided to portray Tonantzin like the Virgen to illustrate the history of Mexico before the influence of Catholicism. This piece is a symbol that declares mestizaje and the declaration of the existence of the indigenous people. Instead of the usual negative representations of women, Yolanda Lopez recreates women as powerful figures, without the association and relationship to men, fertile women that are seen as beautiful creatures in whatever body shape they have. Yolanda Lopez recreates a new Chicana womanhood through this piece and creates it so that every women of color could relate to it. This piece really spoke to me because someone how it connects me to another part of my identity as a Chicana and connects me with the history of the land that I come from. This piece of art makes me see myself as a woman of color differently and makes me happy that it's not all about the negative stereotypes.