La vidente
Carla Rippey
The Seer
In this drawing, Carla Rippey uses elements from two iconographic sources to produce a self-portrait expressing her pain. The image of Pavlova, the famous early-twentieth-century ballerina, is combined with the seven swords and the heart corresponding to the popular Catholic devotion of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Dyed with colors much like those of the Mexican flag, these icons help Rippey present herself as an artist/medium who uses the surface of the canvas as an instrument of self-exploration. Like much of her work, this piece is marked by the reuse, copying, and manipulation of images, as well as the creation of her own allegories to depict her emotional states.
CARLA RIPPEY (1950)
La vidente, 1987
The Seer
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
Acquisition with funds from the Presupuesto de Egresos de la Federación, 2016
