This is one of Maldonado's 'Three Sisters / Tres Hermanas' series made in 2019 and 2020 to commemorate their mother and her two sisters. In Mexican and Indigenous cultures the...
This is one of Maldonado's "Three Sisters / Tres Hermanas" series made in 2019 and 2020 to commemorate their mother and her two sisters. In Mexican and Indigenous cultures the "Three Sisters / Tres Hermanas" are a culinary reference for some of the most important foods: corn, squash, and beans. The crops are often grown together: the corn grows tall, the beans climb up the corn, and the squash covers the ground below. V.'s mother, Amelia, was affectionately called "La Guera," which translates to the one with the light complexion. Here Amelia has dramatic blonde hair and eyeliner. Amelia's two sisters are "Felidonia (La Prieta)," the youngest sister, "La Prieta" references her being the squash with tan or brown skin color; and the eldest sister, V's God-Mother Esperanza. "La Negra" is Esperanza's nickname, and it references that she is the darkest-skinned, the bean, of the Tres Hermanas
2022 - 2023 Claiming Space: An Exhibition of Large Scale Paintings, includingJeremy Okai Davis, V. Maldonado,Elizabeth Malaska, and Michelle Ross. Curated by Carson Legree, Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, WA November 16, 2022 to January 14, 2023 2022 Spring Group Exhibition, Froelick Gallery, Portland (April-May) 2022, Un Rinconcito En El Cielo, Froelick Gallery, Portland OR 2020 After the End of the World, Froelick Gallery, September 1 - October 10