Flowers Disguised: Woman's Voice through the Catholic Tradition in the Art of Maria Tomasula

Since the late twentieth century, Latina artists have used Catholic images, such as depictions of altars and the Virgin of Guadalupe, to speak both for themselves and for women's issues at large. Maria Tomasula seems far from that norm, since she focuses on tightly constructed, dramatic still l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion and the arts
Main Author: Kang, Soo Yun 1964- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2019]
In: Religion and the arts
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Tomasula, Maria 1958- / Still life / Catholicism / Woman / Gender conflict
RelBib Classification:KBR Latin America
KDB Roman Catholic Church
Further subjects:B Julia Kristeva
B abject
B woman's voice
B Day of the Dead
B Sacred Heart
B Maria Tomasula
B ofrenda
B still life
B skull
B Martyrdom
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Since the late twentieth century, Latina artists have used Catholic images, such as depictions of altars and the Virgin of Guadalupe, to speak both for themselves and for women's issues at large. Maria Tomasula seems far from that norm, since she focuses on tightly constructed, dramatic still life, painted in the traditional European illusionistic manner. She reveals, however, Catholic influences and feminist messages in her flower paintings. This article aims to unveil the woman's voice in the works of still life by Tomasula, as communicated through embedded Catholic symbolism and references. It will examine how her works evoke the home altar tradition as well as images of saints in martyrdom to speak for the Mexican American woman. This article also applies the concept of the abject, as espoused by Kristeva to denote a woman's realm, to Tomasula's art. Tomasula's still lifes thus ultimately delineate a woman's space and her discrete experience.
ISSN:1568-5292
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion and the arts
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02301005