Part of a series in which Meléndez incorporates representations of family members, friends, and even her self-portrait, this piece, as well as ¿Por qué me preocupo tanto? on the right, illustrates how she approaches harsh realities with playfulness and humor. She subverts signifiers of innocence and reinscribes them with new meanings to explore questionable human behavior. There is a nod to satire, tragicomedy, children’s literature, and puppet theaters. Meléndez describes the figures represented as hybrids that are at once individual characters as well as representatives of the socio-cultural idiosyncrasies of the artist’s context. This work, along with others from the series also on view in this gallery, articulates a sharp critique of society’s expectations of women: “I address concepts of feminism in the representation of women in private and public life to develop an antithesis on judgments of the body and sexuality.”

Gisela Carbonell PhD, Curator Rollins Museum of Art