Title: La Malinche as La Guadalupe with las Tres Hermanas (the Three Sisters) – Corn, Squash and Beans

Artist: Cristina Ortiz Acosta

Medium: Oil; 22kt gold, sterling silver leaf and copper metal leaf; wax; antique ceramic 24kt gold mosaic on vintage Ponderosa Pine wood panel reclaimed from a 1904 wood mill and formed by an artisan woodworker into a single panel.

Size: 42” x 60”        Year: 2005    Price: $11,500.00

Image Inspiration:

My Guadalupe represents the combination of the Hispanic and Native cultures. She is the symbol of transformation and strength imbued with courage and love.She is surrounded with a pattern of roses drawn into tinted wax medium then covered in thin sheets of copper metal leaf. Instead of an Angel, she is supported upon a sterling silver crescent moon and guided by an eagle. Her mantle is embedded with cut crystals laid in the shapes of constellations as they are over New Mexico during part of the year.  Her red gown is overlaid with three plants; corn, squash and beans. These plants are referred to as “the three sisters”. These plants that when cultivated in the historic Southwest enabled a village to thrive.

La Malinche is also referred to as “the mother of the Mexican race”. The daughter of an Aztec noble family, she was sold into slavery by her mother. Eventually, she was given to Hernan Cortez, the Spaniard who conquered the Aztec in the sixteenth century. Malinche gave birth to the first official mestizo child. The child of the Aztec nation became the mother of the Mexican nation. As the Guadalupe her straight-forward gaze and open arms convey strength and beauty.