OAXACA SERIES
DUENDES
El Grand Duende is based on an image taken from a Spanish colonial text found in Oaxaca, Mexico. It represents a gnome-like figure dressed in a plant-like jumpsuit with a headdress. This enigmatic figure intrigued me because of its mythical allusions. The details of the figure and its costume reminded me of the leaded separations of a stained glass window found in Catholic cathedrals. I transferred a photocopy of the image onto fiberglass mesh and colorized it with acrylic and oil. The frame surrounding the image is ornamented with seeds and the beard is covered with shredded copper filaments. The entire piece is suspended on a curved tree branch.
CANTINFLAS Y LA SUERTE
Cantinflas y La Suerte was conceived in Mexico City approximately thirty years ago after witnessing a public tribute held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes after the passing of Mario Moreno, commonly known as Cantinflas. Cantinflas was an enormously popular actor featured in countless Mexican films over the course of half a decade. Referred to as the Charlie Chaplin of Mexico, he was a comic figure personifying the everyday tribulations of the common man. The Cantinflas tapestry consists of twenty sheets of muslin imprinted with proceeds from the Lottería Nacional winning numbers and the iconic face of Cantinflas silkscreened in red. From each right eye emerges a chain tassel that trails to the floor strewn with glass crystals. The Cantinflas tapestry was first shown in Mexico City in 1994 at the Centro Cultural San Angel. Subsequently, it was shown at CEARTE in Ensenada in 2017 as a memorial to the 25th anniversary of his death. Cantiflas y La Suerte has recently been acquired by MACO the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca, Mexico.
CAT’S CRADLE
The collaborative installation "Cat’s Cradle” features a hanging by Porfirio Gutierrez, a master weaver from Oaxaca, Mexico and a scroll of portraits from Teoticlan de Valle. The multimedia installation was commissioned by MACO (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca) for the exhibition “Under the Cobalt Blue Sky” in which fifteen international fine artists partnered with indigenous artisans from the region of Oaxaca in December 2018.
The subject of the piece was an interaction between a group of dancers who yearly performed a ritual dance “La Danza de la Pluma” that commemorates the struggle between the conquering Spaniards and the indigenous population of Mexico. Strands of red wool emerge from the foreheads of each dancer’s portrait, connecting to the central eye of an adjacent wool tapestry, creating a symbolic bridge between both hanging artworks.
The floor space between the installation is strewn with earth, ashes, and pairs of the dancers’ worn sandals, accompanied by identifying labels of each name in Cyrillic alphabet, a choice of my collaborator in tribute to my ethnicity.
