Ethnic groups

T his work gathers several faces of one people into a single scene. At the front, a girl of African descent smiles, bright-eyed, in a flowered blouse, her hair tied up in small colored ribbons. Behind her, an indigenous woman with a red scarf holds a baby wrapped in white, who lifts a finger to its mouth. Off to the side, another woman carries a basket full of harvest on her head, heading toward the green fields in the distance. On the left, carved in stone, an ancient Maya stele rises. That pre-Columbian sculpture watches the scene from the past and ties it to the deepest roots of the land. Between the carved stone and the living faces runs one line of blood and history. The oil on canvas blends the realism of the portraits with the warm color of the plants and clothing. Light falls on the girl's smile and the yellow of the dress, while the stone monument stays in a more sober, almost earthen tone. Each figure has its own texture: the skin, the wool of the little bonnet, the fringe of the shawl, the fibers of the basket. The title, Ethnicities, says it all: the work celebrates the diversity of a people made from many roots. Indigenous people, those of African descent, and country folk share the same canvas, just as they share the same land. It is a portrait of mixed identity, told with pride and tenderness.