“There are many women in the world, with different types of clothing. I'm Cholita, and I said the Mona Lisa has to be a Cholita, just like me,” says Claudia Callizaya, in an interview,?as she finally paints Mona Lisa as a local indigenous cholita woman. As her newest piece of art, Claudia brings forth a fresh perspective on the classic Mona Lisa painting.

Just like how Leonardo da Vinci kept her gaze steady, Claudia made sure to keep her gaze steady and had a similar nose. She imparts her own identity by wrapping her in a colourful Andean shawl and putting on a traditional bowler hat of Bolivia’s cholitas.

Cholitas are indigenous Aymara or Quechua women who belong to the poor farming community. According to reports, they have faced marginalization in the Andean nation for the longest time. It is also noted as the highest percentage of indigenous people residing in Latin America.

As per reports, she said, “I painted the Mona Lisa, with earrings, a cholita hat, and a blanket ..., dressing the Mona Lisa as an Andean woman

Claudia Callizaya, The Painter of Cholita Mona Lisa

Callizaya, 32, became an ardent lover of art when she used to paint at home on sones lying near her house. She got a degree in fine art and now, paints on a canvas. Before taking up fine arts, she always wanted to become a teacher and studied at a public college in EL Alto. Later, she took up vocation training classes in art and history. There, she learnt about Venus de Mila and the sculptures of the Mona Lisa.

Callizaya has now started f to work full time at the local ministry of culture. She is not practising farming anymore. She has also sold two Cholita Mona Lisa paintings in a student exhibition.

Watch the video here.
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