simple circular discs and the aureole, which refers to an aura of bright light emanating from the body or head. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Mendoza suggests that she drew inspiration for her aesthetic from Latin American culture (Sanchez 2021), and this is reflected in the religious iconography visually referenced in Immigrants Are Essential. It is important to recognize, however, that she is not merely implying that the immigrants be venerated for their spiritual virtue. The iconographic traditions to which she alludes are also inherently political. They reflect the history of con-uest to which Latin America was subject as well as the resilience and revolution by which Latin American peoples laid claim to their cultures and identities. Perhaps the most prominent example of this phenomenon is the Virgin de Guadalupe, which reflects the syncretism that emerged when the Catholicism of Portuguese and Spanish colonialism encountered indigenous practic es and aesthetics. According to the tradition, in 1531, the image of The Virgin was miraculously imprinted on the tilma or cloak of an indigenous peasant, Juan Diego, who she asked to build a shrine in veneration of her. The cloak bearing her image is now enshrined in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. On it, she is depicted as a contemplative, pregnant, olive-skinned young woman clothed in a pink robe. Her head, shoulders, and arms are covered with a blue mantle that drapes behind her to her feet and is spangled with stars. Her hands are joined in prayer, and her head inclined, looking downward with heavy-lidded eyes (Fig. 4). She stands on a cresFig 4. Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the mantle of Juan Diego 15
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