Paintings made by San Antonio-based artist Kathy Sosa feature vivid colors with women front and center.
The new book Mestizaje: The Feminist Art of Kathy Sosa catalogues much of Sosa’s work and explores how it blends Mexican American and indigenous cultures.
The book highlights paintings of women adorned with wings or with Mexican trees of life, a traditional indigenous motif that symbolizes the story of creation.
Sosa’s art career didn’t begin until she was past her mid-40s -- she first worked as an educator and in advertising in public relations
Sosa said her life changed after she worked on a national Hispanic art program with a Hispanic ad agency.
“It was my first exposure to Latino artists and the symbolism and themes of Latino culture, and specifically the borderland,” she said. “I was just in love, just in love from then on.”
Much of Sosa’s art is alive with color and features the use of bright blues, pinks, yellows, and greens.
Sosa said her husband, Lionel Sosa, pushed her to take an art class in Philadelphia that taught her techniques she still uses today.
“The way they taught color just spoke to me so clearly that I was able to use it almost from the first class,” she said. “With that skill, I progressed into painting people and especially women because … women are just prettier.”
Listen to the second part of the conversation with Sosa about her art on Jan.3.
