Focus on María Lionza (statue) and discuss the Appearance.
The statue depicts the indigenous Venezuelan fertility goddess María Lionza nude and holding a woman's pelvis in both hands high above her head while riding astride a tapir that stands on a snake. The faux stone statue stands at 5.9 × 1.2 × 3.74 metres (19' 4.25" × 3' 11.25" × 12' 3.25"), excluding the pedestal. Followers of María Lionza believe that Colina did not artistically create the image of the goddess on the tapir for the statue, but that he "had a vision" of her in this position and, "during the vision, the goddess gave him the mission of creating a statue reproducing her appearance".The Chicana/o studies professor and ethnologist Maria Herrera-Sobek explains that the statue draws on the 'Yara' identity of the goddess (who is known by different names with different stories), representing fertility. Discussing the iconography of the statue, she wrote that the depiction in nude and riding the tapir "represents female strength and courage, the essence of a woman warrior".Canals wrote that other depictions of María Lionza, those used in public rituals and often made from mannequins, are typically fully clothed and are given much make-up and careful hair styling. He said that these clothed depictions are designed to emphasize María Lionza's sexuality and make her look like a fairy tale princess, contrasting them with Colina's statue. According to him, the statue is more sensual and erotic than the depictions of María Lionza as the mestizo queen, due to the nudity, and deliberately contrasts the feminine María Lionza with the masculine represented by the tapir, but still shows "a woman with a serious face, an athletic body with powerful legs and strong arms".
mestizo astride fertility goddess pelvis María Lionza mannequin indigenous Venezuelan ethnologist Chicana/o studies pedestal tapir Yara iconography