The significance of my series “Mejor que con Dios” is rooted on a Mexican song titled “Como Mexico no hay dos.” A Mexican immigrant sings it testifying that in California he was not able to find or build another Mexico. Immigrants often choose to live in the United States but upon determining where to be buried after dying, they choose Mexico. My paintings capture the color and structures Mexican cemeteries have which might be the two reasons immigrants in the United States choose to be buried in Mexican cemeteries rather than American cemeteries.
In the song previously mentioned, the immigrant says la Virgen de Guadalupe tells Mexicans to build her a chapel in Mexico because there she will be “Mejor que con Dios.” This phrase is an allusion to Juan Diego’s dialogue with la Virgen de Guadalupe when she wanted a chapel to be built under her name. As the song progresses, the phrase “Mejor que con Dios” gets repeated not by la Virgen but by the Mexican immigrant. The “anelo” felt in the song’s phrases are what I believe Mexican immigrants throughout the world feel for Mexico. Having the privilege of returning to your country and get buried there is "Mejor que con Dios."
In the song previously mentioned, the immigrant says la Virgen de Guadalupe tells Mexicans to build her a chapel in Mexico because there she will be “Mejor que con Dios.” This phrase is an allusion to Juan Diego’s dialogue with la Virgen de Guadalupe when she wanted a chapel to be built under her name. As the song progresses, the phrase “Mejor que con Dios” gets repeated not by la Virgen but by the Mexican immigrant. The “anelo” felt in the song’s phrases are what I believe Mexican immigrants throughout the world feel for Mexico. Having the privilege of returning to your country and get buried there is "Mejor que con Dios."
