The dimensions of the feminine for the Mesoamerican woman 

by Verona Fonte (audiovisual artist, Berkeley, California)

Guadalupe is currently working on a new series of paintings about the many dimensions of the meso- american woman.

These women represent the multiple facets of the feminine archetypes that are based in her studies and interests in the history and mythlogy of Central America. The paintings are also biograpical in that the represent different dimensions of her psyche, and also the psyche of indigenous Central American woman.

In this series she is using hand-made paper that comes from fruits and vegetables - raw materials of the earth - as the essence of the feminine archetypes come from the earth, the sea, the animals, and vegetation that have always supported the life process.

Her motivation in this series is to understand these dimensions of the femi- nine, of herself; and to translate this in her paintings so she can communicate the power and simplicity of life which we are losing in our complex, denatured, depersonalized modernity.

The first painting of this series was Madremonte representing the regal strength of the feminine as portrayed by the solidity, tranquilty and stamina of the mountain to remain always present

This is followed by Madre del Mar which is inspired by her spiritual connection to the sea, which is heard in her powerful song “Madre del Mar”.

Another painting is “Madre Culebra” (Mother Snake) a painting representing the power of the generative forces of the feminine in producing maiz, or basic food, for turtle island - the earth. The serpent here represents both the strength of this capacity, but also that it is manifest both above the ground (externally) and below the ground (internally) in the psyche of women.