Strange images of Mary

Note: Do not, I repeat, do not take this seriously.

One day, me and my boyfriend's two sisters and their daughters decided to stroll around Mall of Asia to forget our bitterness and try to amuse ourselves. We were just derping around when we walked by this exhibition of "statues of Mary". 

I am really fascinated with Catholic's depictions of "Mama Mary". I don't know how they got these varying images of Mary and their "titles" but I enjoy looking how intricate their wardrobes are and how large they can get. I just don't like how they stare at me specially if they are life sized. I also don't like the combined smell of incense, flowers that are starting to wilt and fragrance that you usually smell on any Catholic statues. It really makes me feel dizzy.

So we entered the exhibit just out of curiosity. And to my surprise, the Mary images are not the images I normally see. Here's for one:

"Immaculada Concepcion de Malabon"

If I didn't say it's a statue of Mary, I'm sure you'll think it's a statue of a Hindu goddess. I mean, why not? With how she hold her hands to pray, how the wind blows on her clothes, her hair, her skin color, her eyes, facial features... dangling earrings?? Definitely not a typical Mary.

Here's another one Hindu goddess-like image of Mary.

Here's "Our Lady of Piat". I don't know why I took this picture. It must be because she's dark skinned, contrast of the milky white oh-so-perfect complexion of a typical Mary image. I wonder what they were holding.

Another dark-skinned Mary. I love her hand-painted dress.

HUGE Mother and Child Image. With all of its grandeur and gold ensembles, no wonder it has its own place in the exhibit. I also noticed how popular gold is to Mary statues. Why is that? To depict royalty? Holiness? 

I don't know. When I saw this statue, I just remembered Emma Stone's infamous wardrobe on her movie "Easy A". NOT that I'm comparing the statue to the character of the movie. Just NO.

And here's another one peculiar sight of the exhibit: A Chinese Mary and Jesus! Tell me why?

The painting is called "Empress of China". It is nowhere near the typical image of Mary and baby Jesus. I wonder why would someone paint this? Is it to get the empathy of the Chinese people? Or maybe the painter is Chinese? I had no time to read the descriptions of the painting 'cause the people with me are not interested as much as I am and are on their way out of the exhibit. One thing is for sure, the painter got my attention.

and the most ... surprisingly... unexpected sight.

A nursing Mary.

I commend the artisan who built this statue of Mary. It is closest to reality that Mary may indeed nursed Jesus when He was still a baby (not with the garbs they wear here of course). But this is really ... unexpected.

Anyway, we were given donation envelopes before we entered the exhibit. I ended up not giving anything. They had a good exhibit in Mall of Asia complete with flower decorations, lighting arrangement, perfumes and fragrant oils put on the statues. I thought, hey, if they have the means to do all these, why do they still need donations? So I gave the empty envelop back to the expecting old lady waiting at the exit. I didn't looked at her and walked straight to my friends, avoiding the old lady's disappointed face.