Maja

The word indigenous has come to mean something very unique in the world of art and creativity.  It means a native place where ideas and memories are born. It means a place where birth and death intermingle for its inhabitants. But for the artist it means a place where symbols, shapes and colors express themselves originating from the people who inhabit its environs. They are the features through which the people reveal their artistic soul.

Historically artists inevitably reflect their backgrounds in their work. My own focus in making art embraces the indigenous aspect of life.  My work  is uniquely American and expresses itself in the symbols of North,Central and South America. Its mainly representational reflecting the cultural history of the people who work the land . Born in South America, widely traveled in Central America and now residing in North America a fusion of styles and ideas has been inevitable.Typically my subjects are interpretations of my indigenous predecessors. They are my main inspiration. There is nothing that new in this line of artistic interpretation. The great Mexican muralists perfected this theme in their monumental paintings and murals of  the Twentieth century.

Recently my work has focused on creating objects of art which are inspired by the indigenous people from this hemisphere who once thrived with their own advanced forms of artistic imagination. As a salute to the past,  Calaveras (skulls) serpents, and jaguars come to life in my studio. My motifs are decidedly Mesoamerican. Working in wood, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, and a variety of colorful gems and seeds from the Amazon, my creations represent ancient forms made  from natural materials aimed at enhancing the great objects of the past. My work is humble with no great pretense to represent any universal meaning. Anyone interested in my work will be motivated by a sense of identifying with a people whose aesthetic values were distinctly non-European. And if there is a need for any moral justification for my work its that my creations allow collectors to obtain art without any further pilfering and pillaging of the pre-Columbian treasures from our southern neighbors.