Maternidad

Francisco Zúñiga is best known for his lithographs and sculptures of indigenous female figures, depicted economically and based on a systematic study of form. Indeed, this Costa Rica-born artist considered drawing to be an essential part of his artistic process. In 1987, he addressed its significance, stating: “Drawing is primordial. Drawing is a rational means to create a contour, to capture a form before approaching a problem created by the sculpture and the material.”1 Maternidad is an iconic work within Zúñiga’s ouevre due to its formal characteristics and treatment of the subject. The attention to volume and texture reveals sculptural concerns, while the pyramidal shape formed by the sitter’s enveloping fabric attests to the artist’s exploration into the symbolic meaning of form, particularly its basis in pre-Columbian imagery and architecture. The shawl’s folds soften the monumental bodies, emphasizing the corporeal presence of the women as caregivers and mothers. The central figure’s stoic gaze and subtle embrace of her newborn presents indigenous motherhood as a symbolic expression of a feminine archetype of Nature. With this work, Zúñiga pays homage to the vitality and resilience of indigenous woman.

1 Zúñiga, Francisco. Francisco Zúñiga: Catálogo Razonado I Escultura, 1923-1993 = Catalogue Raisonne I Esculpture 1923-1993.-1993. México: Albedrío, En Asociación Con Fundación Zuñiga Laborde, 1999. [p. 24]

This text was created in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and written by Patricia Ortega-Miranda.