Week 9

Since last Friday, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Yreina Cervantez. Particularly ingrained in my mind is her self-portrait as a jaguar, which is really striking. My brain keeps having a hard time seeing through the layers, finding the regular woman's face underneath the mask-like design. I had a really hard time seeing the red lips within the open mouth of the jaguar, I just couldn't see that her own mouth wasn't actually open. Though that might just be a me thing. She looks out boldly as if she were actually seeing beyond the viewer. The hand to her neck and the jaguar's open maw suggest something like pain or shock, but the eyes are impassive.

The textures of the mixed media used in the work, when zoomed in close, make me want to touch the surface. The color pencil outlines of the Mayan imagery, especially on her face, are my favorite effect. The floral pattern on her shirt (?) is unmodulated, creating a flat area almost like wallpaper. The pattern continues like ink or henna on her neck. The palette of deep shades is energized by the contrasts between red and green.

I felt an unexpected joy in seeing it, my attention was caught as soon as it came up on the screen. I love her blue-black hair and her round, brown face and brown eyes and the fact that the arches in her thin brows aren't perfectly symmetrical. I love the bloodred, almost black color on her nails. She is so beautiful.