Al mercado de la ciudad – corazón de la misma las gentes vamos de prisa a adquirir una solución – barata la mayoría de las veces. El precio es barato y caro – apretones, calidad dudosa, precariedad, mal olor. Dentro de ese caos de pisos y aire sucios, inmediatez, volatilidad y peligro se proyectan como frutos que cuelgan de ramas extrañas en lugares donde no hay árboles reales estas bolsitas de plástico con líquidos de colores. Paupérrimos envases de plástico que contienen agua, gaseosa, vinagre, jugos, refrescos, salsa de tomate, salsa Perrins, aceite, mayonesa y aguas mágicas… que sirven para controlar la vida en mayor o menor grado. En fin, estas aguas sirven para vivir y sobrevivir. De allí el nombre de este árbol.

Reflejos involuntarios (Involutary Reflexes) 2001.

This exhibition evoked childhood experiences and realities at that time:

San Salvador´s central market had always caught my interest… its dark spaces, its high ceilings, those attractive olive skins,… fruits and colors, many young and old interesting faces. Always full of new things, the market seemed like an unending place. The trips to the seeds and witchery section were the most colorful ones… there I could see candles in all sizes, colors, shapes. Dry leaves and barks, medicinal herbs, animal parts, spices and those people with the confidence of a warlock… and of course their loyal clients carrying with solemnity their worries and hunger for secrets the traders in this section of the market possessed.

I visited this and other ¨magical¨ places as a child. Those memories remained . As a middle class divorced woman, at age 41 puzzled by sociocultural and aesthetic issues I was busy exploring some conditions of my mestizo (interracial latino) womanhood.

This 2001 exhibition included monoprints, acrylic and mix media paintings (various sizes of marble powder, aluminum foil, etc), an oil tryptic; and a 2.00mt x 2.00mt x 2.50mt installation with some thoughts printed on a sheet of plywood against the wall. The themes of the exhibition included some suggestive titles of magic potions ( ¨No me olvides¨, ¨Quiéreme mucho¨, etc) , closeness and separation, self censorship and precarious cultural conditions. Those were my thoughts at the time.

Arbol de Vida (Tree of Life)

See also: http://latinspace.org/CalendarArt/AR(T)S.html