ABOUT THE WORK

The works of Mario Parial were pioneering in their depictions of folk religious imagery, rural landscape themes, and infectious joie de vivre. “Parial has also gone in areas exploring the decorative and emblematic elements of talismanic anting-antings and the religious icons of folk Catholicism,” wrote Leo Benesa. Folk Catholicism is represented in this work by the church candles being sold. Transcending all such references is the face of the country woman herself, looking directly at the viewer, candidly and with a hint of amusement. Her head emerges from the flatness of the black surrounding areas, which in their turn contrast with the light, undifferentiated background.