Yolanda M. Lopez

I find this image by Yolanda M. Lopez very interesting. It is an oil painting of herself as the Virgen de Guadalupe but in a different pose. During college, Lopez was in the track team so she decided to paint the Virgin as a runner in order to make this significant figure more personal. This image comes from a series of three different depictions of La Virgen, each including a different generation of her family. The other two paintings include her grandmother and her mother as the models for the depiction of the Virgin. Lopez did this reimagining of the Virgin in order to honor the working class women. This image in particular is an homage to herself. She is still wearing a dress but it flutters above her knees as she runs allowing us to see her very strong thighs and calves. She is also wearing tennis shoes and is running over the little angel that typically holds the Virgin. I like this imagery because it symbolizes that this mujer cannot be confined.