Altars to the Self

Altars to the Self is a series of 9 painted wooden sculptures based on exploring the intersection of queerness and mexicanidad using the Mexican folk art tradition of nichos, also known as ex votos or retablos. This subversion of specific religious iconography has a long history within the queer Latine community and will be continued in this series. Nichos are small, handmade, shadow-box-like religious altars found in many homes throughout Latin America. Religious and spiritual offerings were integral to Pre-Hispanic life and still remain extraordinarily important to religious rites specific to Latin America, for example: ofrendas & photographs for Dia de los Muertos, offerings of food and goods in Santeria, or ex voto paintings as artistic embodiments of prayers in Latin America’s Catholicism. Altars to the Self uses iconic mestizo spiritual symbolism to express the intersections of queerness and mexicanidad, and how these two identities are not separate, but quite intertwined and sacred.

There is an accompanying handmade book that encompasses 5 years of research of Latin American art history; the origins of Guadalupe and Indigenous Mythology and it’s influence on Mexican religious and spiritual culture; the queer history of Mexico, including Nahum Zenil, Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, and other queer artists who subverted the divine and profane; and the importance of iconography and visual culture to Mexico and Latin America.

Sofia Love (b. 1999, Boston, MA) is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and trained Peyote bead artist tackling themes of identity, perception, queer expression and cultural aestheticism. Sofia uses art and design history to explore desire and freedom within the queer Latine community and how cultural imagery is subconsciously linked with her own personhood. Referencing specific instances in art history and symbolism, Sofia makes compositions using cultural iconographic art that is both contemporary and historical. Learning and decolonizing marginal histories and symbolism are an important aspect of Sofia’s practice and her extensive research reflects in her carefully planned works. Combining painting, beading and sculpture, she is tying together classic Mexican neo-figuration styles and beadwork to illustrate the conflicting identities that queer Latine people struggle with. Sofia uses bright, fantastical colors in reference to typical Mexican nichos, which were used as detailed pictorial prayers addressed to the Virgen de Guadalupe or other saints, contrasted with her queer identity. Sofia uses Guadalupe and the skull in her works, two of the most obvious, stereotypical, and important cultural symbols in Mexico, alluding to Western media’s gaze on the ‘other,’ resulting in negatively stereotyping symbols with deep cultural significance.

Sofia Love is an Integrated Design fifth year at Parsons School of Design, with a concentration in Fine Art and a minor in Art and Design History. Sofia is the Gallery Assistant at Sargent’s Daughters in New York City. She lives and works in New York City.

Nichos are a type of folk art popular throughout Latin America, especially Mexico, often devotional but sometimes merely kitsch. Similar to dioramas, nichos are made from common household objects, like tin boxes, prayer and loteria cards, beads and other craft materials. They traditionally combine elements from Catholicism, mestizo spirituality, and popular culture. Nichos have varying names across different regions: nicho, retablo, ex voto or other local names. They are often called Mexican shadowboxes in English.

Nichos are a great example of Spanish Catholic ideology mixed with Indigenous and mestizo influences, which is what makes up a large part of Mexico. Throughout my research into Latin American art history, it becomes clear that cultures are not stagnant. All cultures are influenced by other cultures whether through absorption, colonization, migration or deep reverence, and the contemporary Mexican-American experience is an amalgamation of many different influences with a clear visual culture.

In Latin America, it is common to see nichos on tables resembling an altar to display significant religious icons, like the Virgen de Guadalupe. Within the box, there is a central figure or object for whose honor the nicho has been created. Nichos can serve as an altar, mark an important religious event, or honor a patron saint or revered figure, like Frida Kahlo. They can also serve as prayer offerings for different ailments, which follows the ex voto tradition of colonial Mexico. Ex Votos, or Votive paintings, are a folk style of religious painting where an individual can paint a scene from their life that they need help with, and they will place the small painting within a church so their prayer might be answered.

Typical artistic attributes include hinged doors, carved borders, Dia de los Muertos imagery, and ornate detailing. They are painted with striking colors, typical of the Mexican figuration style, packed full of cultural and religious iconography.