Lupe 

Editor: Octavio Ocampo's "Lupe" is an oil painting that plays tricks on the eye. It’s both a portrait and a scene with multiple figures. I find the surreal quality kind of unsettling. What cultural narratives do you see embedded in this image? Curator: It’s fascinating how Ocampo layers imagery, isn't it? The face, seemingly carved from stone, emerges from what appears to be a wedding scene. Look closely: what wedding narrative feels familiar, with a woman in white, and a sleeping or deceased groom, as if lifted from iconography, shrouded in symbol? Editor: Hmm, I’m not sure I follow… There is definitely a couple... Oh! Is this an interpretation of a specific historical marriage? The stone archway makes me think of a funeral procession as well as wedding one! Curator: Consider the tradition of funerary portraiture alongside that of wedding portraits, how artists since the Renaissance depicted power and legacy. Here, the layers obscure rather than clarify, so what statement do you believe that makes about historical memory, or a particular family or nation's sense of cultural legacy? Editor: That makes so much sense! The artist is not presenting a glorifying representation, he is critiquing. But in showing all the visual metaphors, it gives new meaning, right? Thanks so much! Curator: Precisely! The symbolism here becomes a multi-layered, ever-shifting commentary. Seeing through these symbols really unlocks so much history.