Urban Animals

The animals that are able to live in the reduced wilderness of our human habitats fascinate me. My new works are a tribute to these survivors that share our habitats and sometimes thrive in our suburban ecosystems in Northern California.  We can find these survivors in every human settlement, even in the most polluted and green deprived cities around the world.

When I see wild animals in my backyard I get a childish hope that not everything will vanish and that a few of us, animals, will make to the next era in our depleted ecosystems.

I painted a triptych of Mother Natures: Mother Tiger, Mother Bird and Mother Wolf. They share characteristics of Nature that I deeply revere. The Bird is nurturing, helping the next generation in a peaceful garden. Mother Tiger is returning some balance to the land. Are the humans her pets or her prisoners? Mother Wolf is creating life in an almost dead landscape. Flowers are blooming in the pavement of Mexico City.

In my other works, I am interested in the interactions of humans and animals in the landscape.  I often wonder if we control Nature, or if Nature still has a hold on us. I worry that none of us can walk lightly on Earth, not even our tender children, leaving footprints as we go.

My work is influenced by popular arts from around the world and by surreal artists who explore reality through fantastical transformations. I love the qualities of sharply outlined cartoons that I infinitely watched as a kid. I often have in mind the Mexican retablos of my childhood. I also delight in the jewel-like Persian miniatures and medieval illuminations. I strive for work that has the honesty and directness of hand made crafts with the use of over-decoration and space flattening pattern.