Luis Pablo Mendoza, like the best Oaxacan artists, knows that animals can carry the deepest human stories. This standing mama tlacuache, carrying her baby in a rebozo, is one of those pieces that simply makes everyone who sees it smile.
Look at her. She stands upright on two pink feet, dressed like a Oaxacan campesina in her orange checkered apron with floral pockets, a striped purple rebozo wrapped across her chest. Her head is tilted up, and her mouth is open, mid-song, tiny pointed teeth showing. And on her back, peeking out of the folds of the rebozo, her baby looks out at the world for the very first time. Same white face, same bright blue eyes, same pink ears. A whole life ahead of him.
The painting is delightful. The fabric patterns are painted with real care, the orange-and-yellow gingham of the apron, the woven herringbone of the purple rebozo, the small floral pockets, the printed pink underskirt with its hearts and curls. Every textile detail is the fabric of a real Oaxacan market day. The face and ears are classic possum: black-and-white fur, pink and yellow inner ears.
The tlacuache holds a special place in Mexican tradition. He is the one who stole fire from the gods and brought it to humanity, his tail burning hairless in the process. In Maya tradition he represents the feminine force of creation, and in Aztec medicine the possum was deeply associated with motherhood and the safe delivery of babies.
To see a mama tlacuache carrying her young as a Oaxacan campesina is to see one of the oldest images of love in Mexican culture, told in Luis Pablo's unmistakable hand.
