MARICELA DE LA TOBA
“The Woman, Plastic Artist, Painter and poet madly in love with the beauty of the arts”April 2022 edition
Although I was born in La Paz Baja California, my artistic roots of many years of work and life are at the foot of the mountains of Monterrey, I am Maricela de la Toba and I am a plastic artist and poet, this identity has taken root in me as a result of many years of loving work dedicated mainly to achieving, respecting, propagating and protecting beauty in its profound definition.
But who am I? First of all, a woman with everything that the words woman! implies, multifaceted because I try to function effectively as a mother, friend, businesswoman, teacher, ecological and social activist, poet, motorcyclist, family psychologist, chef, and Of course, a plastic artist among other things, I like to explore everywhere, always looking for answers to life everywhere or problematizing myself with questions that only artists, poets, and philosophers are allowed to avoid falling into a utilitarian life common.
I consider as a consequence of that search and my artistic work that unwittingly and naturally and spontaneously I have become what I believe to be a restless questioner of life, from the end of the hair to the end of the hair on my head. my brush.
I think I have well defined my loves and passions which I protect and defend, among them the real and profound exercise of beauty (associated with harmony, justice, wisdom, prudence, truth) as one of the ultimate and highly respectable ends of art. that led me to write and then to design a video statement “about beauty in art” which I uploaded to social networks and that surprisingly had a great and celebrated international reception by recognized authorities in art and culture, but, just as I can find satisfaction talking with those personalities from the world of culture and the arts whom I thank with all my heart for their reading and time, although with all sincerity, I think I have repeated and ordered your ideas already developed concerns for a long time back to the present. It is also important for me to sit under the tree that I have carefully cultivated in front of my house and watch the butterflies go by or the clouds laden with rain, the occasional litmus- colored insect in reckless flight or engage in a very serious and childish existential conversation about birds and mice with “Michi” my beloved and mischievous black cat (Which I sometimes suspect may be a necromancer).
You can find me working in my workshop above, below, above, behind, or hanging on my paintings that I always try to have beautiful workmanship, or resting for a moment in the sun until my face burns, my head hurts and my clothes smell of ironing, and then following the wise advice of the lizards of my homeland, take refuge in the shade of my cozy house and continue watching the sun through the window always with delicious coffee sweetened with piloncillo and some other dream that I take out of the trunk of my soul. Sometimes I will be in my private world, my beautiful garden terrace watching how some white-winged pigeons from nearby mountains bathe calmly taking advantage of late spring rains, On other occasions when life without mercy or warning gives me evil, you will find me putting my hand on the chest of the very devil of tragedy and conjuring his disappearance, I’m still brave, just as cowardly if I’m given permission, just as sensitive, tender, a demon, the dramatic, weepy, crazy, rope, I smile irreverently, smiled politely, I read a lot, I write and I paint, sometimes I think I should spend some leisure time and watch the flies fly without trying to catch anything like my cat “Michí” What do I do? The obvious answer would just paint? For what? to put bread and wine on the family table and open the doors to friends and share my fruits with them from the heart, yes, but… it would not be fair to stay with that simple answer because it would omit the tasty details that take place in my laboratory workshop.
When you have earned the privilege of entering the workshop, although this may seem arrogant, you will enter my world where the word work with a capital letter makes sense, I will always be working on several paintings at the same time, you can see large format works in the workshop in interesting phases of the artistic process, many colors, brushes, pencils, containers and mixtures, sometimes seeing all this with my apron full of infinite stains and it moves me to imagine myself as the ancient wise alchemists and their mysterious spells to convert colors, brushes and canvases , in music performed by beautiful nymphs, aquariums with Art Nouveau sirens, fish with beautiful aquatic veils, flocks of exotic birds,
sparrows from our childhood summers wish two mysterious nests that hung from the trees, paintings with exquisite latticework, fish from bright eyes, geometric compositions, ancient and thoughtful chess moves, steeds in lively attitude, migrating butterflies of delicate wings, among other artistic delights, but not only in my workshop the work is of the hands, the mind and the heart play an important role in the construction of the artistic work and its beauty, so at the same time that my hands and my eyes are busy painting the picture, books and audios of talks or debates by old and new friends like Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche or Sartre appear in the atmosphere of my workshop until the last joke of pepito From poets who clarify our hearts and lives like Neruda, Benedetti and Machado to simple dreamy and sleepy talks with another pet from the workshop, a Creole fence cat called “paco” As an artist and as a poet my passion is life itself and I declare myself Lost and madly in love with beauty, I cannot and do not want to avoid it and as a lover, I eagerly seek it and celebrate it in each work, in each painting, in each poem.
Here is something about me, a little about my life, about my surroundings, about my secrets, about my intimacy, but in the end, I am Mariela de la Toba, plastic artist, painter, poet, humanist by conviction, and radically promoter and protector of beauty in the arts.
Today on WOMEN’S DAY I will tell you something, I will argue that the “patriarchy” NO LONGER EXISTS” (especially in the West) and this is not because of the noisy and scandalous feminist movements, but thanks to the economic and political system that both Feminists hate: free-market capitalism and liberal democracy. The data of reality seem to show us something very different from what the “patriarchy” discourse establishes: in numerous dimensions and indicators of social life, carefully omitted by feminism, men appear to be the most disadvantaged.
(Globally, 79% of homicide victims are men, In wars, historically, the most harmed have always been men. The life expectancy of a woman is five years greater than that of a man, 40% of the current active population are women, to give a few) The equality of women concerning men is a process and, as such, must be analyzed, studied intelligently and carefully, however, we retweet and share things and advertising without meaning only for wanting to be fashionable or for seeing us cool or “EMPOWERED” another term that many and many tend to use irresponsibly. At the base of this equalizing process is the speculative economic system.
I DON´T SUPPORT THE EVILLY CALLED “RAPE PATRIARCHY” OR THE MISUSED EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN
What better than this to weaken A SOCIAL SYSTEM and with this the bond and solidarity that should exist between men and women. Now, not only is it weakened but it is at odds with each other, or worse, we have become bitter competitors.
They are contradictions of ideologies that, claiming to be on the side of women, only seek to attack the foundations of the very system that made the so-called “patriarchy” a historical museum piece for the West. What if we (women) ruled the world there would be no wars? Why are we forced to put on makeup? Victims of the dictatorship of cosmetics and fashion? Forced to dance halfnaked and spread our legs before millions of viewers of the “SUPERBOWL”? Forced to fill the malls and collect bags and slippers? Forced to be mothers, lovers, housewives? Or is it that the “VICTIMIZER” (and vindictive) posture is more comfortable. It seems that these postures feed more into something understood as “hembrism”, and that it is not motivated by love for women, their dignity, personal and social value, but to blame the man and motivate hatred towards him. (just now when many men are already starting to put on makeup too). And as G. Friedman said “There are many who turn completely to militancy politics, in the preparations for the revolution Social. But few, very few, those who, as a revolutionary preparation, choose to become WORTHY PEOPLE”. DELATOBA.