La Virgin De Guadalupe

 Growing up, my mother would send my siblings and I to travel throughout Mexico with our extended family based in Mexico City. One of these trips lead me to the Basilica de Guadalupe in northeastern Mexico City because my Catholic aunts and grandparents wanted to pay homage to La Virgen De Guadalupe. Back home in California, my mother was practicing Christianity therefore she taught us that worshipping symbols of La Virgin De Guadalupe was an act of idolatry that we must not engage in. Entering the Basilica de Guadalupe helped me understand that La Virgin not only functions as a religious icon but also as a symbol of patriotism throughout Mexico. Images of La Virgin are seen everywhere throughout Mexico like airports, metro stations, churches, and the walls of buildings because she represents a guardian, especially to Catholic Mexicans.

As I became more independent over the years and moved away from home, I began to stray from organized religion because although it was an important instrument in my upbringing, it felt oppressive to my modes of expression. It seems as though Yolanda M. Lopez’s shared a similar experience to mine embodied by her reimagining of La Virgin in Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe. It’s inspiring to see that Lopez was not afraid to share her unique interpretation of La Virgin De Guadalupe. Lopez does not shy away from pulling La Virgin De Guadalupe from the roots of patriarchy and turning her into a symbol of feminism. Constrasting images like the Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe and traditional portraits of La Virgin demonstrate that symbols carry a multitude of meanings individualistic to each person who sees them. Perhaps, if my mom acknowledged this concept then she would have a deeper appreciation for works of art that feature La Virgin De Guadalupe.