When I lived in Colombia my house was always stuffed with paintings, sculptures and books. I never really paid attention to any of them, I was so used to seeing those images in my daily life that I never paid close attention to them, the only thing I saw were paintings and sculptures of people with overweight. None of these representations caught my interest until September of 2016, two weeks before I moved to the U.S. I was sad about leaving so I started detailing my entire house, thing by thing until I got to this weird art pieces. Not until this moment I was able to appreciate them, I noticed all of them were created by the same artist, Fernando Botero.
From his paintings there was one in particular that caught my attention. It is a painting in black and white, it kind of looks like a sketch. It is like a picture in which the fat man has a suit and a tie on and he's sitting with his leg crossed. Next to him stands a fat woman wearing a long dress and she is between hugging him and leaning on him. In my perception this is a couple that lived around the 1930's and 1950's which belonged to the high class and the way they're dressed show they had a high socio-economic status.
This painting has an impact on me because now that i'm here and I feel alone or away from home I think about that painting. That painting reminds me that I have a home where I can always go back to, that I have a family that has been there for me my entire life and they will always be. It also brings memories of my childhood and brings me very happy memories, and no matter where I am it makes me feel like im home.
The artist Fernando Botero does not paint fat people, he prefers to use the term volumetric. He not only paints humans like this, he also makes the environment surrounding the person this way. He does this because this is the way he sees the world, I connect with this piece because the artist reminds me that everyone can se the world in a different way. It reminds me that I should have my own perception of the world and that the world is as I see it, not as others tell me it is. It brings me memories because of the fact I grew up with that painting always being in my house and it has a sentimental value because it reminds me of my family, and as the woman is lying on the man makes me feel like I can always lean on my family because they will always be there.
Very interesting post. The value of the Colombian art increased for you the further from Columbia you went. There's an old expression, "You don't miss your water until your well runs dry." It seems leaving Columbia made you recognize more about the place. It's great that art can keep that connection alive.
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