This is 1 of 2 wall installations I painted for the Oakland Museum of California. The wall will be displayed in their Natural Sciences Gallery as a part of OMCA's annual Dia De Los Muertos exhibition. The curator, Eduardo Pineda was interested in creating a show that put Dia De Los Muertos in the context of natural sciences and California. This image is in honor of the California state Grizzly bear. The image was inspired by Nahuales which is the belief in some Mexican traditions that everyone is born with a spirit of an animal who is responsible for protecting and guiding us. In this case I was thinking of the Grizzly as a Nahual for our state. Unfortunately we've killed off all of them in the state of California.
Oakland Museum Update
This is part 1 of 2 walls I am painting for the Oakland Museum of California. The walls are for their annual Dia De Los Muertos exhibit which opens this fall. I had to get an early start on it because they requested to use it to promote the show. The title of this piece is Tree of Life and Death. It's inspired by Life Cycles as defined in science and a modern interpretation of pre-conquest, Dia De Los Muertos and buddhist images. Life Cycles basically apply to all things living and are characterized by change, life itself, growth and death. The tree motif is a reference to the civic logo of Oakland. Together with the curator of the exhibit Eduardo Pineda, I wanted to connect natural sciences to Dia De Los Muertos, and I feel we accomplished that in this piece. I will post more updates as soon as the piece is installed at OMCA. Thanks for viewing!
Oakland Museum of California
I am very honored to announce that I have been invited to paint a couple of walls at the Oakland Museum of California as part of their upcoming Dia de Los Muertos exhibit. The exhibit will focus on both Dia de Los Muertos, and natural sciences, especially in regards to our state of California. Above are my concept sketches for the walls. A little info on the bear drawing: I learned that in some Mexican traditions, everyone is born with a spirit of an animal who is responsible for protecting and guiding us. These are called Nahuales. The Grizzly Bear can be thought in this way about our state, which may be the reason it is pictured on California's flag. That's why I decided to make a dedication to the animal which unfortunately and ironically is now extinct in our state. I will post more information about the other image pictured here, and some of the visual ingredients I chose as the work developes. Stay tuned!