LAS MADRES These figurative paintings with Madres (mothers) in heroic postures are homages to the working mother. Mothers are the invisible labor, unpaid, underpaid, undervalued, unappreciated, and overlooked for their contributions to multitasking duties in this complex fabric of our society. They have been, and still are a large part of institutionalized gender inequality. This invisible economic engine where women do the cooking, cleaning, child, and elder care keeps them from advancing economically, at work, and in society. For me, it is important to represent women in a strong manner and to illustrate the dignity I witness in them and hope to give voice to their oppression. Their attitudes provide intimacy, strength, endurance, pride, and unsparing honesty in wanting and praying for nothing less than a better future for their children.
The family in the above painting was from Venezuela seeking political asylum in a refugee camp of over 2000 people in Matamoros, Mexico. Isabel C. Olarte and family left everything behind to provide a better future for her two children. They had been waiting seven months under dire conditions to be granted immigration status in the US. Isabel was one of the few women I interviewed. I met them in February 2020, before the pandemic.
This work has been selected by the jury to be featured in The de Young Open 2023!
WORK
IN
PROGRESS
WORK
IN
PROGRESS
WORK
IN
PROGRESS
WORK