D  e  s  e  r  t     E  x  p  o  s  u  r  e     July 2005

Pictures of Devotion

Las Cruces retablo painter Virginia Romero brings a centuries-old artform into the present day.

By Don Toomey

Here in New Mexico we have a richly diversified tradition of painting retablos (generally on a flat pine board or on tin) and bultos (three-dimensional carved wood figures) of saintly persons or events. Post-war contemporary New Mexico santeros such as Luis Tapia, Arturo Lopez and Nicholas Herrera have pushed the envelope of this traditional devotional artform to allow more freedom of expression that incorporates a real sense of individual creativity.

This approach has attracted non-Hispanics such as Las Cruces artist Virginia Maria Romero, who pursues her personal spiritual creativity by developing an approach to retablo painting that maintains traditional aspects along with 21st-century contemporaries. Romero's approach emphasizes the realism and symbolism of Christ's Passion in a haunting contemporary manner in which facial expressions battle to achieve dominance and personal spirituality.

Sagrado Corazon by Virginia Romero.

Virginia Romero's early years would seem to have made her an unlikely candidate to become a New Mexico retablo painter. She was born in Sheffield Lake, Ohio. She first became aware of her own artistic aspirations at the tender age of seven, although she has never undertaken to pursue formal art courses. She pursued a conventional education culminating in two years of community college.

Romero came to New Mexico in 1982, at a time when art per se was not the dominant focus in her mind. At that point she thought New Mexico was a beautiful place in which the land, the people and the distinctive culture commanded her attention.

Her first exposure to New Mexico devotional art came about when her husband Al took her to meet one of his father's cousins, Emilio Romero. When she arrived on the scene she found the entire family sitting around a large kitchen table doing tinwork. Devotional art was everywhere in the home, and at the time she simply thought it to be interesting and another venue to express personal spirituality. Over time, however, this attitude has changed and she has since become a true practitioner of santero art.

For many centuries devotional art has been the cornerstone of the Catholic faith. This artistic tradition in New Mexico, which Romero is continuing with her contemporary approach, had its roots in the late 18th century. It grew and prospered from 1790, reaching its apogee by 1860. During this time frame it encompassed the working lives of most of the early traditional masters of New Mexico santero art. From 1860 until the beginning of the 20th century, images of Christ's Passion became the dominant depicted devotional images among the Hispanic population of New Mexico. This was primarily due to the flowering of the lay organization known as "La Hermandad de Nuestra Padre Jesus Nazareno," commonly called the Penitentes.

The early years of the 20th century saw traditional santero art undergo a profound change due to the acquisition of new materials and methods, along with a changing focus on what devotional art should be. This was coupled with the desire to please a dominantly nonreligious art market initiated by Anglo-American art devotees. With the renaissance of the Santa Fe and Taos art colonies, in addition to the founding of the Spanish Colonial Art Society during the period from World War I until World War II, interest in New Mexico Hispanic devotional art continued to grow. This thrust was put on hold during the war years (1942-1946), but renewed with greater purpose and vigor after the war. In essence, during this time New Mexico devotional art evolved and redefined its traditional aspect to encompass a more contemporary view of what this art form should embrace.

Romero says that in doing her devotional art she has not been influenced by any particular artistic style, but primarily by the faith it represents, and her personal religious search. Her inspiration for the unique faces on her retablos came from her curiosity and exploration of pursuing a way to achieve a closer understanding of how spirituality is important in her own life.

"I suppose I use my art as a vehicle to explore a more closer understanding, literally by bringing the images closer, hence the definitive close-up faces," she explains. "The Passion of Christ is a paramount influence in my work. I rationalize this in my art by imagining how I believe Christ has influenced me, and possibly others, through the images I am inspired to paint." The personal experience of creating devotional art is for her a meditative and rewarding process that is spiritually guided, she says; otherwise she would have no reason to be doing it.

Although Romero has never taken any formal courses in retablo painting, she has been guided in learning the basics by renowned northern New Mexico master santero Charles Carrillo. He graciously shared his vast knowledge on the preparation of natural pigments, and the making of gesso and pinon varnish. This has enabled Romero's retablos to maintain that traditional style so integral in true Hispanic devotional art, while allowing her contemporary creativity to build upon a firm traditional foundation.

Her devotional art also embraces altar screens, bultos and painted doors. Romero's rationale for taking on larger projects is simply that she wanted to do something creative on a larger scale.

One of her altar screens was on exhibit in Santa Fe's old San Miguel Mission Church. This happened after a conversation she had with mission director Brother Lester Lewis. He had come to view her work at an art gallery where she was the featured artist. He was so impressed he offered to display her altar screen in the mission church. The altar screen, one of her crosses and a painted door were displayed in the church during the 2004 Spanish Market, and hung there until recently. Romero remembers Brother Lester telling her that he saw her work as "a bridge between cultures." She donated a retablo of San Miguel Arcangel to the mission church, where it now hangs.

This experience, she says, "has continued to influence my work beyond what I can really comprehend or explain in words. I hope my art will explain it for me."

Romero's devotional art continues to attract and inspire discerning collectors and has found its way into the collections of the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces (large bulto and retablo of San Ysidro) and El Museo Cultura de Santa Fe (La Virgen Maria Cruz). Governor Bill Richardson is among her collectors as well (San Rafael de Arcangel).

Romero is also a published, award-winning poet. Her books of poetry entitled The Turtle Called My Name and Under The Raven's Wing are available at area bookstores.

Virginia Romero's retablos are handled by the Nash Gallery in Mesilla (523-2311) and the Montez Gallery in Santa Fe.

Don Toomey is a Santa Fe freelance writer and photographer (AWT90328@aol.com), whose last book, The Spell of California's Spanish Colonial Missions, was published by Sunstone Press in Santa Fe.

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