Analysis Of Carmen Lomas Garz Folk Chicana

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Constance Cortez’s book Carmen Lomas Garza examines the life and the artworks of Carmen Lomas Garza. Garza was raised in South Texas and was the child of five. Her parents were involved with the community especially with the Latino veterans. Garza’s mother inspired her to become an artist because her mother also painted. The inspirations of Garza’s works are of her everyday life and of her community. Within her painting, the audience gets a feel of what it was like to grow-up or be a part of the artist’s life. The artist’s images speak of memory and of hope. She is considered a folk Chicana artist and is widely celebrated as one of the best known Chicana artists. Garza’s images incorporate religion, tradition, and political struggle in the …show more content…

The chapter illustrates how the artist incorporates ideas within her art that reveal aspects about dreaming. The image I have selected is Hammerhead Shark on Padre Island, 1987. The medium of this painting is oil on canvas, it is 36x48 inches in size. Within this painting, the view is of a beach, where most of the community is enjoying a day at the beach but they have encountered a bleeding almost dead shark on the sands of the beach. They imagery shows how that the most familiar areas aren’t free of endangerment. As Constance Cortez states “Here as in many of Garza’s works, the lesson is embedded in the imagery: there are sharks everywhere, even in the places we play”. This contributes to life lessons children will one day come to understand and it gives a realistic view of reality. This image ties in with this chapter because although we dream of a future, we must face the difficulties or realities of our daily lives. As Garza states “To dream is risk” this means that there’s uncertainly to life we also see this in the image of Cama para Sueños, although the mother is making the beds for her children as a sign for nurturance and safety, her daughters are laying on the rooftop. The imagery is clear with the message that is being conveyed, the risk of dreaming is valuable once we have achieved