#13: La Bandera (The Flag) 2008

Curator: What immediately strikes me about this piece is its almost celebratory mood, despite the stark black and white of the woodcut print. There's a certain rustic joy emanating from it. Editor: I’m drawn to this narrative print for the way it makes visible a visual echo of cultural continuity. The piece is called "#13: La Bandera (The Flag)" by Marina Pallares, created in 2008. It uses a rather elemental woodcut technique to depict a group of people gathered around the Mexican flag. Curator: It feels so grounded. I mean, look at those plants in the foreground, the way they're almost spiky and protective. It roots the scene in a specific place, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely. That deliberate rendering connects us not only to the physical land, but perhaps even to the emotional landscape of belonging and identity that the flag signifies. The figures are presented as almost folk-like, adding another layer to this expression. Note the use of figuration surrounded by natural landscapes and abstracted light motifs. What thoughts do you have on that light? Curator: I see it as a sort of halo effect radiating outward; this light emphasizes the symbolism within, and further draws my eyes into the central figures celebrating it. There's something very cyclical and communal here, and I want to understand how to unpack these collective feelings towards flags. The number “13” sitting on top right is really sticking with me. I can’t place any specific symbolic link in Mexican history that lines up. Editor: Numbers, like flags and landscape, acquire layers of culturally embedded meanings. Marina’s treatment through her folk-style emphasizes our connection to symbolic representation, no matter how direct or indirect the message seems. And notice how that almost naive aesthetic amplifies, rather than diminishes, the emotional power of the scene. It avoids bombast and invites contemplation. Curator: Yes, the simplicity is deceivingly profound. Looking closely, I also think the woodcut really impacts my reception of the artwork. You feel the artist’s hand, the labor… that’s part of this message and adds weight to it. Editor: Exactly. Woodcut’s direct, almost primal nature reinforces this very notion of history being touched and carried through the earth via visual icons like this. It certainly left me thinking about my own relationship to nation and visual culture. Curator: For me, the dialogue this work ignites goes far beyond surface symbolism, and more toward these connections we build with them over time.