The Beatification of Lety M

The Beatification of Lety M

When I first meet Lety, she has lost her husband and 28-year old son Gabriel to Huntington’s disease. Now it’s her daughter Janet’s turn. Janet’s hospice worker thinks Lety would want a memorial portrait of Gabriel, but with Janet’s swift decline, I see a need to reflect back to Lety the extent of her and Janet’s own heroism. I repurpose the original photos digitally, now saturated in the sadness of all the lost potential cut short by this cruel disease. When I’m done, Lety’s healing dreamscape tells a new story: astride a Mexican beanbag, Lety shares Buddha with her children (a life-size statue Gabriel remembered from a visit to Universal Studios). A giant topiary cake honors Lety’s pastry work by day, while the Virgin of Guadalupe represents her caregiver prayers by night. Lastly, a burro waits for Janet’s last wish: to ride a horse one day. Each of these details encourages a more epic reading of Lety’s life while staying true to the colors and imagery drawn from her Mexican heritage.