Click on the above painting to enlarge it.
About the Piece-
"The Mexican doll is an original hand painted piece on linen. The inspiration comes from Day of the Dead Celebrations which I read about in a book called "The Empire Of Death" by Paul Koudounaris. The out of practice and in some case still existing ceremonies invoked a colorful and decorative spectacle in my mind which I sought to bring out here in this small and quiet still life.
The frame has an interesting story of its own. My mother found it abandoned on a neighbor's curb side 5 years ago. We took it in and promised to find it a good home some day, or to make a good home of it for a painting. At last I had the idea to paint this turquoise doll, the color being set off excellently by the leafed border and wear showing through the frame. The combination of the reds, blues, greens, pinks, and a striking yellow combine to evoke an exultant extravaganza of color harmony.
"…The most dramatic contemporary example is undoubtedly the Famidihana (Turning of the Bones) of the Malagasy people of Madagascar. This ritual involves removing the body of an ancestor from it's crypt, wrapping it in a new shroud, and dancing with the corpse to live music. There may even be a family meal at which the deceased is given a place at the table. The ritual serves to unite families by reestablishing their bonds with ancestors, and introducing younger members to family history.
Although Famidihana is not a Christian ritual, Christianity itself does not preclude a dialogue with the dead, and similar practices survive in some pockets of the modern Christian world. On November 2 in Pomuch, Mexico, family members return to the local cemetery to remove the bones of their relatives from their tombs and clean them… Elsewhere in Latin America, the Fiesta de las Natitas on November 8 in La Paz, Bolivia, brings thousands of people carrying human skulls to the city's Cemetery General…" (page 11, Empire of Death, 2011)
http://boingboing.net/2011/08/12/the-empire-of-death-a-cultural-history-of-ossuaries-and-charnel-houses.htmlhttp://www.teresaoaxaca.blogspot.com/2013/10/mexican-doll-to-be-party-of-art-at.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0500251789/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mitogo05-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=0500251789
