Garza's Art Works
Carmen Lomas Garza's eloquent etchings, lithographs, and gouache paintings
depict primal images of the rural environment and communal cultural
experience of Mexican decended people in the United States. In an
introspective and personal language, she describes the customs,
traditions, a nd ways of life of her Texan Mexican heritage.By 1972, Lomas
Garza had evolved her distinctive monitos, paintings of stylized figures in
culturally specific social environments. She transposes images and scenes
from her past, combining cultural documentation with invention in an
interplay of fact and fiction. Through selection, emphasis, and creation,
these monitos delineate facets of experience, expressing deeper truths.
Oral tradition is a mainstay of Chicano culture. In both urban and rural
communities, a rich and varied repertoire of ballads, tales, and poetic
forms is preserved in memory and passed from generation to generation.
Lomas Garza's monitos function as an oral tradition in visual form. Her
unique art of storytelling employs iconographic elements to create a
concentrated narration. Visual episodes within an unfolding epic
tale of cultural regeneration, the monitos keep alive the customs and
daily practices that give meaning and coherence to Chicano identity.
Their basic aim is to delight and instruct. For those outside Chicano
culture, the precise and minutely detail ed monitos provide a glimpse
into the rich and vibrant lifestyl e of the largest Spanish speaking
cultural group within the United States society. Although her art
has an innocent earnestness and folkloric affinity, Lomas Garza's
expression is neither naive nor instinctive. The artist is highly trained
academically, but has chosen to remain independent of dominant artistic
trends in order to work toward a private aesthetic response to social
concerns. While her work does not posit an overt political statement, it
originates from a desire to respo nd to the contemporary situation of
Mexican Americans by expressing positive images of their culture.
加扎的艺术作品
卡门·洛玛斯·加扎富有表现力的蚀刻画、平刻画和树胶水彩画，描绘 了美国墨西哥后裔居住的乡村环境和群体的文化经验中的原始形象。
她用一种反省和个性 化的语言，描绘了得克萨斯州墨西哥后裔的风俗、传统和生活方式。 到 1972 年为止，洛玛 斯·加扎已逐渐完成了风格独特的
monitos。 这是将风格化的人物置身于特定的社会文化环 境中的系列画作。她从自己的经验中移植出来一些形象和场景，用虚构和现实的交融，实现
了文化注释和艺术创造的结合。 通过挑选、突出和虚构的手段，这些画勾勒了人情事故的 各个方面，并表现了更深层的真实。
口语传统是美国墨西哥文化的主流。 在城市和农村， 人们在记忆中保留了各类民谣、传说和诗歌并世代相传。 洛玛斯·加扎的 monitos，以可视
的形象表现了这一口语传统。 她独一无二的艺术，用肖像法的元素创造了高度凝炼的叙事。 作为逐渐展开的文化更新史诗中的视觉片断，monitos
生动地表现了赋予墨裔美国人有价值 及完整的认同感的习俗和日常生活。 这些画的根本目的是给人娱悦和教育。 对墨西哥文化
以外的人来说，这些画准确而细致地描绘了美国社会中最大的西班牙语文化群的丰富和充满 活力的生活方式。
尽管她的艺术天真、诚挚并与民间艺术有极深的渊源，洛玛斯·加扎的 表现手法却绝不幼稚也并不是仅仅出于本能。 这位艺术家在学术上受过高度训练。 她选择
独立于艺术主流之外，目的是对社会的良心做出个性化的美学反应。 尽管她的作品未提出
公开的政治宣言，但却是发源于通过描述墨美文化中的正面形象来反映墨美人目前处境的愿 望。
译路通武汉汉口翻译公司整理
2012.7.4