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Casta paintings produced in New Spain (now Mexico) during the eighteenth century have been analyzed as visual testaments of a racially mixed and hierarchical society. This presentation focuses on the portrayal of culturally complex female protagonists in relation to the imagery of vestimentary culture and its production. While studying the references casta paintings make to Nahua, Christian, and ancient Greek mythologies, the presentation seeks to give voice to the silenced women through a reading of spinning, weaving, and sewing as narratives of hybridity and resistance.

Evelina Gužauskytė is Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Wellesley College. Her research explores the literatures and visual cultures of colonial Latin America, with a particular focus on the history of fashion, women’s and gender studies, the emergence of publications for women, comparative mythologies, and decolonial studies. Her research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain, the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, and the John Carter Brown Library. This presentation is part of Gužauskytė's second book project.

Language: English