Women of Juarez
Originally uploaded by Mellicious.
The quilt above is tribute to Juarez murder victims, made by Sabrina Zarco and shown at IQF 2004.
So, I have had it in my head for a while to do something in a Day of the Dead theme. I'm really drawn to that style. I want to do something more or less in the vein of Sabrina Zarco's work - in this case that mostly means bright colors and lots of embellishment. I even went so far as to order stuff for it. (From the way-cool Manto Fev.)
But I hadn't really figured out what I was doing, specifically - not at all. For one thing, it makes me feel like a little bit of a fraud. I'm not hispanic, and even though in this part of Texas I'm around hispanic people and hispanic culture all the time, to one degree or another - and have been all my life - still, nobody I grew up with celebrated "Dia de los Muertos" - or if they did, they didn't talk about it much, anyway. It wasn't until I moved to Austin in the late 70s that I saw much of this style.
What I needed was a way to make this thing mine, and I think I've figured it out, at least partially. My grandmother - the last of my grandparents - died last month, at 92. It was hardly unexpected, since she had Alzheimer's and several other major health problems, but it made me think about incorporating my grandparents, all of them, into a quilt. I'm thinking now that this will probably involve pictures. It's something personal that's in keeping with the spirit of the thing.
(This seems to be the way I work - I have a bunch of disconnected ideas floating around my head, and every once in a while a couple of them bump into each other and make something new!)
Now I just have to find time to actually do it.
1 comment:
Well first I have to say gracias for posting my quilt with such nice comments. As a Latina I am appreciative that you thought about the fact that dia de los muertos is a spiritual ceremony for many of us with tradition behind it. But like with many things it is becoming more of a commercial thing and sadly losing some of the tradition, ceremony, and spiritual connections.
I do believe that your ideas for the family work you have in mind is an excellent one. I think you have the essense of what dia is about, remembering loved ones. In my belief, we die 3 deaths, one when the body ceases to function, second when body is returned to the ground we are all a part of nature, and third when no one is left to remember you. So by remembering and celebrating by telling stories of those who have taken the journey we keep them alive and cheat the final death once more. Death for us is not something sad, its another part of the journey in life, happy skeletons made of sugar, sweet memories. I make a new dia quilt each year. So gather your memories, your treasures, photos, and start sewing. Let your memories guide the images and have fearless fun making it! I look forward to seeing what you have created, you can reach me at sabrinazart@yahoo.com
Gracias
PS Women of Juarez is hanging in Austin until Aug 4 I have a show at La Pena Gallery downtown Austin
Post a Comment