“Rescates y Chantajes”

'An honest man, is a man of mixed origins'

Michel de Montaigne

Born and raised in Mexico and now living in New York I look at my own culture from a distance and with a wider lens, allowing me to reflect on my Mexican background like the reflection in a mirror.

My sense of identity is the main subject of my work; it reflects the influences of a culture that is layered and complex. Pre-Hispanic iconography, myths and legends become primordial characters in the work. The intricate shapes and colors reflect the influences of the Mayans, Aztecs and Toltecs layered with the Spanish culture and its own mixed influences of the Moors, Jews and Europeans.

The imagery derives from legends and myths passed on from generation to generation. The figures are gods and goddesses that to me represent the archetypes of human need. Inspiration often comes from my pride in femininity and the pride my ancestors also shared on the duties and pleasures of being a woman. I celebrate ancient goddesses like Chantico -She who dwells in the house- or Ix Chel –the goddess of midwifery and medicine in the Mayan culture. As in mythology, text is often layered like ancient historical scrolls and faces are pointing towards the heavens.

My palette is representative of the bold colors of Mexico and from the exaggerations of Picasso’s synthetic cubism. By adjusting and re-readjusting shapes and forms and juggling bright colors I am able to put together a rebus of flat space that mimics the rebus of my cultural roots and the artistic styles that have influenced my work. Shapes kiss and dance together appearing and reappearing through the pieces. Interlocking forms are arranged and juxtaposed to balance flat areas while directional edges move the viewer through the composition. Organic, hard edge shapes and surface tension derive from the influence of Matisse’s cut outs and long time mentor George Parrino; flat planes are carefully assembled and jumbled into lively play. Not unlike my roots my style stems from my mixed origin and the diverse influences I have encountered in my journey as an artist.

Deeply inspired by Carlos Fuentes’ “Buried Mirror” my work is dedicated to a search for the “cultural continuity that informs and transcends the political disunity and fragmentation” of my Mexico.

We are ultimately living records of our past and my paintings are one Mexican’s excavation and reinterpretation of my culture’s living history.