Retablos
Coming from a northern New Mexico Hispanic visual tradition, I began my artistic endeavors with the creation of retablos, two-dimensional images of saints and holy figures that historically and experientially function practically in private, domestic spaces. This body of work is an exploration of the beliefs, ideas and values that gave rise to Retablos’ production and use in the Catholic context as mediators between the physical (earth) and spiritual (heaven), intercessors and role models. Just as the portrait of a saint depicted on a retablo serves as a point of departure for spiritual experiences, I continue my relationship with my grandparents despite their deaths, through the creation of their images. The practicality of retablos lays in their roles as intercessors, their physicality and placement traditionally providing for such necessities as good crops, healing and protection. Similarly, the people depicted in my work have provided me with spiritual and material necessities that have shaped what I have become and sustain me. Representation of saints within a particular space, or with symbols that allude to narratives from their lives and admirable qualities, are to be learned from and imitated by viewers. Through the lives, examples and advice of my subjects, I have learned important truths about life, death and spirituality, as referenced in the narratives and landscapes that accompany their images. The use of stylistic conventions, spatial divisions, framing devices and materials that compose traditional Retablos, link my contemporary experiences conceptually and visually with this powerful tradition.
