Cultural Fusion 

I’m not from here.
I’m not from there.
I grew up in one land, was wed in another, and I now call this land my home.
Through the borders that were crossed and the languages that were learned,
Through the diversity of landscapes that have been travelled and the years that have passed,
Here is the legacy I carry with me wherever I go…

Beauty.
This is why I do what I do – to bring beauty, life and personality into a space.

The birth of my daughter marked the beginning of a creative adventure that crossed through these borders of places, cultures and languages.  Her presence brought a new kind of beauty and life to my own, helping me find the courage to express on canvas the beauty and life I carry within myself.

But perhaps this creative adventure actually began before her birth?  Maybe the courage I discovered in bringing her to life was actually there all along – that courage pushing me to venture off to new lands, showing me how to be vulnerable in order to learn to say ‘I love you’ to cultures completely foreign to my own in a dialect my tongue was not used to pronouncing.  Perhaps that undercover courage pushed me to experience these cultures in a way that allowed them to fuse into my life.  It is this courage that has helped me to realize that I can make art, I can bring to life the things I imagine and I can hang them on a wall, bringing colour, culture, life, personality, beauty, identity into a space.  As the cultures of the world have enriched my life, so I seek to enrich the world with mine.

On this journey, I have discovered that I can speak a language that transcends the borders I have crossed through, allowing me to communicate things in a very different way.  It is not a language spoken with the tongue, but through colours and patterns and through the meaning that is insightfully and poetically drawn out of a painting.

I would like to share with you my language.

I share my journey, my experience, the fusion of cultures and languages within me through gold and silver leaf, paper, fabrics, acrylic paint and metal wire.  My paintings develop character as I give a second chance to materials like old sheets, jeans and wood; destined for the fire, they are now alive in a new way.  It is incredible and even surprising how an old, discarded piece of wire when shaped just right, will add depth of personality and beauty to a piece.

Colour reveals a lot about a place.  I display the bright, festive colours of my Mexican background bringing the warmth of this land into the room.  But I also like the soft, gray  of the paint and silver leaf which add the feel of the formality and elegance of Holland where I also spent many years.

So why do I share this journey with you now?  Why expose this beautiful fusion within?
So that you may be inspired as I have been, by the fusion around you, by your story, by your journey.
We all come from somewhere.
We all have a story to tell.
We all carry something beautiful within us.
We all have a legacy to carry with us wherever this journey may lead us.