Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Cuaron utilizes a range of mediums in her artworks such as screen printing, printmaking, watercolor, mixed media, paper mache and more.
[1] Ralph Cuaron and his family initially settled in Arizona and eventually immigrated to Los Angeles, working as day laborers in the Southwest.
White, fluffy clouds surround the infant and is supported by the recognizable winged angel usually seen at the feet of La Virgen de Guadalupe.
[8] According to the article, Agency, Accessibility, and Abolition–Exploring Reproductive Justice, by Starlina Sanchez, “In Nacimiento (2004) Cuaron depicts her first and only child swaddled in the protection of La Virgen's green mantle.
Teresa Eckmann’s analysis of Cuaron's screen print, Virgen de la Sandía (1996), in Chicano Artists and Neo-Mexicanists: (De) Constructions of National Identity describes that “Here the artist clearly makes reference to the sexual metaphor of the sandia, or watermelon, as an image of women's genitalia.”[11] The bronze Virgen is standing on a crescent–shaped object of what appears to be a peach colored moon.
[12][13] Margarita “Mita” Cuaron’s new version of the piece, Virgen de la Sandía (1997) depicts Our Lady of Guadalupe fully clothed in a pink gown covered by her recognizable green mantle with golden sun rays.
[14] On December 12, 2009, the Avenue 50 Studio Inc. presented Mita’s painting, Birth of My Grandmother, within the exhibition, “Testimonies Two-Contemporary Ex Votos,” in Los Angeles, California.
Curator, Raoul De la Sota, assembled a group of artists for a special exhibit focusing on the Mexican-rooted art form of the ex-voto, including Margarita Mita Cuaron.