Ofrendas and Maximalism: How Culture Dictates Style and Creativity

Art is often thought of as something we create to express ourselves, but what if the way we create is influenced by something much bigger than ourselves? Our backgrounds, traditions, and the communities we grow up in all play a role in shaping how we see the world, and that perspective inevitably finds its way into our creativity. From the colors we gravitate toward to the way we decorate our homes or accessorize an outfit, culture can influence even the smallest forms of personal style and expression. While some of these influences may be obvious, other times they are so deeply ingrained in our everyday lives that we often miss them. By looking at cultural traditions, the art they inspire, and the ways their visual elements carry into personal style, we can begin to understand how creativity becomes a reflection of both individual identity and collective history.

Culture as a Background for Art

It’s no secret that culture directly impacts its art. Culture is rich, intentional, and full of meaning. It relates to the history they are born out of, and it can look like many things. Certain cultures are known for being more laid-back than others, while others are known for being more hospitable. Historical changes in society and markets have an influence on art because they drastically change the way large groups of people see the world, in turn changing how they view art and how they participate in creating it. Examples such as the Harlem Renaissance are living proof of this, transforming shared trauma into art that shapes identity and acts as a form of resilience. 

One way we get a glimpse into a culture is by taking a look at their holidays and traditions. Occasions such as these give us a glimpse into their values, beliefs, and histories that shape different communities, while also creating opportunities for artistic expression. Every creative choice, like decorations and the symbols used, can carry deep meanings. October and early November offer two particularly interesting examples of this through Halloween and Dìa de los Muertos. Although both celebrations involve vibrant colors and visual creativity, they reflect different cultural perspectives and demonstrate how art can serve both personal self-expression and honoring loved ones through preserving cultural heritage.

Halloween and Día de los Muertos

October is by far one of the most creative months of the year. Halloween is upon us, and with that comes pumpkin carving, costume designing, new spooky decor, and a plethora of other opportunities for you to let your creativity roam free! This is the month when individualism is celebrated. Despite there being new, trendy costumes every year, such as Margot Robbie’s pink cowboy outfit from the 2023 Barbie movie, we saw tons of different variations of the same costume. We saw how it looked thrifted, in different colorways, and in different aesthetics. Customization for all things costume-related is what makes designing your costume so exciting, especially if you’re building it from the ground up rather than getting it mass-produced (though there are a lot of ways to customize a mass-produced costume to make it your own through accessorizing and transforming it to your vision). There’s simply a lot of creative freedom for those who celebrate this holiday. 

Other days of celebration allow for creative freedom in other cultures during the month of October leading into November. Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is widely held and celebrated in Mexico. This celebration, where we honor the dead, is held from October 27th through November 2nd, and every day we honor different loved ones who have passed. On October 27th, we remember our pets; the 28th is when we remember those who passed away suddenly or tragically; the 29th is reserved for forgotten souls; the 1st of November is for remembering young children who have passed, and the 2nd is for anyone else you wish to remember.

While at first this may sound like a grim holiday, at its core it is a celebration of life, and you can see this in the holiday’s traditions and symbols. One example of this is calaveras. Calaveras are sugar skulls decorated to represent individual souls; however, a defining characteristic of them is their color. Calaveras are typically extremely bright, donning bright red, orange, and yellow colors to bring them to life. Ofrendas are another tradition for this holiday that are also typically extremely colorful. Ofrendas are altars for the dead where you can place these calaveras, along with your loved one’s photos and their favorite things, ranging from favorite snacks to their favorite flowers. An iconic flower during this holiday is the marigold. This bright orange flower is believed to guide returning spirits using its strong smell as a path towards the ofrenda. Another common thing to find on an ofrenda is multi-layered texture. This usually appears through an organized chaos of dense tapestries and different types of textures like smooth, satiny fabrics alongside papel picado, meaning crinkly paper. Though visually saturated, this is what makes the altars so unique.

As mentioned, this celebration and others are representations of many things, including a culture’s way of living, values, and beliefs. However, despite these celebrations and holidays typically living inside a certain month, week, or day, it’s interesting to take a look at how these traditions live on throughout the year and how they impact personal style.

Cultural Art and its Impact on Personal Style and Creativity

Something I find beautiful about this tradition is its acceptance of maximalism. A characteristic of Día de los Muertos is how detailed and extravagant the holiday is. Traditions like calaveras and ofrendas are extremely detailed and intentional, and there’s almost a fear of empty spaces through the lack of empty spaces. However, maximalism doesn’t only stay in the visual medium. Maximalism is tied to the way Mexicans and Mexican-Americans treat guests with generosity and a welcoming spirit; to have guests, which in the case of Día de los Muertos would be the spirits of those who have passed, and to not offer food would be perceived as cold. Abundance in this culture is tied to love. It’s a language tied to maximalism that shows the spirit of the culture it belongs to, and it doesn’t solely belong to the holiday and the way guests are welcomed, but it also shows in art. A great example is the artist Frida Kahlo. While her work is primarily known to be closely tied to magical realism, her work absolutely demonstrates the maximalism we so often find in Mexican art through its cluttered, vibrant, and hyper-dense composition.

It’s important to note that taking creative cultural inspiration doesn’t only apply to art. In cultures where maximalism is embraced, you see the way it gets adopted into clothing, home decor, and, a favorite of mine, accessorizing. Something I’ve grown up seeing, and what I’ve always been fond of, is the way jewelry is worn. Necklaces, bracelets, and rings are almost always worn in stacks, with different metals, shapes, and textures coming together to create something that feels personal. This approach to jewelry and accessories embraces the idea that more can mean more room for self-expression, and accessorizing is one way of doing that. In this way, layering becomes its own form of storytelling, much like the intricate details found in cultural art and traditional celebrations.

What makes this even more special is the way these pieces of jewelry are often passed down through generations. I’m currently wearing a necklace with the Virgencita as the pendant, gifted to me by my grandmother, who also has her statement necklace that I’ve loved since I was a little girl. As someone who is fortunate enough to have a generational piece of jewelry such as my necklace, I can attest to the sense of strength these pieces of jewelry give me and others who wear them. I know that for me they’re incredibly impactful because, even when we do not consciously think about it, the things we grow up seeing can influence what we consider beautiful. This is not to say that maximalism belongs exclusively to Mexican culture or that maximalism is expressed the same way in other cultures, but instead it goes to show how cultural values can offer inspiration for the way we choose to express ourselves.

Ultimately, culture gives art deeper meaning by connecting creative expression to communities, histories, and traditions. Whether it’s seen through the individuality celebrated during Halloween, the vibrant symbolism of Día de los Muertos, or the layered jewelry we wear every day, creativity is rarely created in isolation. It is shaped by what we experience, what we value, and what we carry with us from the communities we belong to. It’s a great reminder that cultural influence can live on in the way we dress, decorate, and express ourselves. When we draw on these influences with appreciation and intention, it becomes another way of honoring the histories and identities that shape who we are.

About the Author

Jocelyne is a senior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Criminal Justice. Her interests include reading, writing, and exploring storytelling with a focus on cultural identity.