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Inspiration for this series can be found in Cuchama’s own belief that the Blessed Virgin has been her muse from the beginning. Aspects and apparitions of the Virgin are legion. Cuchama has chosen cultural icons as models here, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, and Mabel Dodge, because these women, all contemporaries, led lives demonstrating those qualities Cuchama wishes to offer to her Heavenly Mother: honor the feminine; transform pain into beauty; and pour out your gifts upon the world.
Guadalupe, 1918 portrays the famous New Mexico Artist Georgia O’Keeffe as Guadalupe, the most popular Marian image in the Southwest. A childless woman who lived alone during the New Mexico part of her artistic sojourn, O’Keeffe’s undulating landscapes, lush flowers and skeletal studies honor the feminine and display a genuine reverence for the life force. Cuchama has chosen to interpret a photo of Georgia O’Keeffe taken in 1918 by her famous photographer husband, Alfred Stiglitz. The haunting eyes, decidedly sanpaku, indicate an ecstatic state and are what drew Cuchama to the image. The Guadalupe is generally shown with hands clasped in prayer. Here the hands are relaxed. The prayer is over; the ecstasy remains. The stars in her mantle are six-pointed stars, the Star of David, emphasizing Mary’s Jewish origins. Guadalupe, 1918 won the People’s Choice award in the 2001 Taos Open Exhibit of the Fall Arts Festival.
La Dolorosa, the Sorrowful Mother, was created during a time in Cuchama’s life when suffering was the theme. The seven sorrows of Mary are traditionally shown as seven swords in the heart of our Mother. Those sorrows are the stuff of Catholic catechism. Cuchama found powerful parallels in the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who also suffered seven major traumas. Modern women, including Frida and Cuchama experience psychological as well as physical pain and so the choice was to put swords into the brain, as mental anguish, the torments of life, wound the heart. Those swords became an elaboration of the halo, sanctifying the pain. Frida Kahlo holds her heart in her hands and we see a serpentine dagger piercing a bloodless wound. The pure white rose arising from the flames of passion signify triumph over adversity, the transformation of pain into beauty. The photograph of Frida Kahlo used in this image was taken shortly after her marriage to Diego Rivera. There is still the bloom of youth in her cheeks but her eyes are wet with tears. La Dolorosa took an Honorable Mention in the 2002 Taos Open Exhibit of the Fall Arts Festival.
La Reina del Cielo, Mabel Dodge, was a wealthy socialite from the Atlantic coast, who brought her love of the arts to Taos and, almost single handedly created a haven for the most talented artists and writers of her time. Taos, New Mexico became a magnet for the famous and those who would be famous -- all under the sponsorship and mentoring of Mabel Dodge who bankrolled the experience. As La Reina del Cielo, the Queen of Heaven, pours her graces upon the earth, Mabel Dodge poured out her wealth to encourage and promote art in Taos and the Southwest. Mary, Mother to the Arts, is an aspect of the Holy One mirrored in Mabel’s life. A contemporary of both Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe, she is known to have frequently entertained the latter. The photograph of Mabel Dodge used in this yarn painting was taken at Mabel’s cotillion, her coming-out as a debutante at age sixteen. Cuchama was attracted by the sweet, virginal quality of the expression. The Queen of Heaven is traditionally portrayed standing on the earth with rays of light pouring down from her hands. Cuchama shows Our Lady cradling the earth to her heart, as a mother would, and raining graces in the form of a rainbow of jewels onto the blue planet. La Reina del Cielo was awarded the Best of Santos in the 2004 Taos Invites Taos exhibit of the Fall Arts Festival, and Best of Native Americn Art in the "taosis" Open 2005 Internet Exhibit. www.taosartistguide.com/open
