As my collection of images and wall paint grew through continued travel, I was motivated to develop a greater level of complexity within the work. My first attempt was focused around the concept of. building layers of constructed patterns on top of a complimentary primary image. The resulting patterns are reminiscent of a birds nest exhibiting three dimensional qualities, especially went printed and scaled.
During a beautiful sunny afternoon in the spring of 2022, I came upon an angry mob of women marching down a primary avenue in Puebla, Mexico. They were vocal, belligerent and aggressively painting messages on just about every wall they encountered including historic monuments and cathedrals.. Turns out, this was International Women's day. Clearly, not a happy group. And for good reason. Subsequent research revealed a long history of female repression and femicide within the Mexican culture. This experience made a mark and initiated the idea of integrating subjugated people within native patterns built from colors of local paint. The symbolism isn't complicated nor cryptic but the composition works well as an aesthetic and an idea I wanted to pursue.
As I developed the idea of creating indigenous designs with captured wall paint, I started to experiment with graffiti and random images from the street in an effort to add complexity, depth and tension. The results were encouraging so I continued to push. These early pieces helped me identify useable images while canvassing streets for potential.
A further exploration of themes noted above while incorporating various paint and images indigenous to the city they were collected.