FANTASY
Selected high quality giclee prints available through ETSY. For larger, original canvases or commissions please fill out the CONTACT form.
aRTIST STATEMENT
My current works are visual representations of little-known ancient tribal mythologies and people from my birthplace of Central America, including those of the Nahuat and Taulepa Lenca people. These cultures stand on the brink of extinction after centuries of genocide, persecution and assimilation. The purpose of my works is to aid in keeping these cultures alive through modern art by exposing their stories to a wider audience.
The pieces are not meant as historically accurate representations of the people or art styles of the ancient times, but instead use current techniques and contemporary stylised imagery representing the modern time and specific geographical location in which I was raised. This includes an exploration of age, race and gender within these narratives through my contemporary lens. Melding these myths with my experience in Naarm/Melbourne in the current age serves to highlight that the legacy of myths belongs to all people.
Throughout research for the project I have received the consent of (and been guided by) scholars, academic literature and the ancestral custodians of these stories in order to ensure that the works are appropriate and respectful of the subject matter. These include Leonel Antonio Chevez, hereditary chief of the Taulepa Lenca people of Managuara (now central/south America) currently in exile in Brisbane. As well as members of Salvadorian people (of which I am one) whose indigenous lineage goes back to the Nahuat (Pipil) people of that region.
The idea of a framework comes from understanding that every culture has its own mythologies, which can be seen as individual nodes belonging to their specific time/place. These nodes are connected by common human experiences and story-telling as a medium, creating a cosmic interconnected network of mythological narration that bridges all cultures back and forth through physical distance and time.
The works consist of a number of large, mixed-media pieces as well as vocal and sound recordings of the stories themselves that have been woven into an audio tapestry titled The Nebula.
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO
2020 - BEAMS, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy VIC
2019 - WEAVES, The Night Heron, Footscray VIC
GROUP
2024 - The eclectic Melbourne art show at The Fitzroy Art Collective, Fitzroy Vic
2022 - Victorian Artist Society Art School Exhibition, East Melbourne VIC
2021 - Small Works, Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy Vic
2019 - Various Salvadoran artists, The Rooms of the Consulate General of El Salvador, South Melbourne VIC
2001 - Vicki Clarke and Diego Villalta, The Old Cheese Factory, Berwick VIC