Carmen Garza "Earache Treatment" (1989)

The piece I would like to address in this blog post is one titled “Earache Treatment” (1989) which pictures a man sitting on a porch with a woman holding a newspaper that is one fire to his ear. This is a traditional home remedy, not only that but it is actually based off of Garzas real life. The setting is Garza’s childhood home and the woman and man are her parents. This earache treatment is known as ventosa and was used to create a vacuum to evaporate the water that Garza’s dad had in his ear. Garza’s identity is shown in this piece of art because this is not something that just any family would do, this is a cultural practice that stems from a Mexican origin. This whole painting resonates with Garza in them ya that is is based off of her culture and it is an actual memory from her family that she can recall.