blog post #5/6: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Title: Our Lady of Guadalupe
Artist: unknown
Date: around 6 years ago
Culture: Mexico
Medium: resin materials (also foam, tablet, wire, drill, green tape, and plastic flowers)
Dimensions: unknown
Source:  Christmas gift from my god father (contributors: my sister's godparents)


Objects get their meaning depending on the person. Object symbolize an idea with hidden meanings. The object I've selected is a beautiful mini-statue of Guadalupe, given to my family as a Christmas present. It was from my godfather. She's wearing a  dark green/mint green shawl and she's wearing a red dress. Her hands are together, like she is praying. Surrounding her is an arc with colorful flowers and some Christmas lighting. This object is important to me because of my religious beliefs. My family and I go to church, and we believe in Guadalupe. I chose this object because it's gorgeous. It lights up my living room, especially during the night. Behind this object, on the right hand corner, is a photo of my grandmother who passed away years ago. I guess having those two beside each other makes my father feel like his mother is in a better place.
Anyways, I learned that our Guadalupe statue wasn't always like it appears to be on this photo. Apparently my sister's godparents made an awesome and creative alteration on our statue. My sister's godmother thought of a creative way to build an arc that sheltered our Guadalupe statue. She's a fantastic arts and craft person so having her add onto our statue was pretty cool. Her godmother used a white square foam, a small tablet, wires, green tape, a small drill, nails, and plastic flowers. First, her godfather nailed the white foam onto the tablet, and glued the statue onto its new base. Then he cut the flowers and intertwined them onto the wire one by one. Next he put the drill onto the stove, to heat it up a bit, and he put holes onto these plastic flowers so that he can insert little Christmas lights. When he was done he used to flowers to decorate the arc. Lastly, he placed about 8 flowers in front of the foam. The colors complement each other. They blend in perfectly, in my opinion. The outcome was remarkable. I was amazed that her godparents did that for my family. There are so creative I was blown away. It's funny because it takes a creative mind to make such an impressive alteration. She thought it, and he build it. I guess by viewing this the person seeing this object will gain knowledge on my religious beliefs, and how it is a beautiful representation of Guadalupe.
I think Dana said that museums only display art that the rich can afford and are interested in. I think that if this was displayed in a museum people would love it, and hopefully find the value within this object. Religion plays an important role in our lives (most of us) and I think that those who are in tact with their religious beliefs would appreciate a work of art such as this colorful arc with Guadalupe inside it.