IN HIS NAME
IN HIS NAME is an installation commemorating my father’s life by combining acrylic on canvas, ceramics, photographic images and sound. White floating silhouettes of Saints (Luke the Evangelist and Jude of Lost Causes) are suspended an inch from the canvas and represent the spiritual “Other World” looking on to the viewer. These Saints, two of several heroes to whom my father prayed for help in his life, are portrayed as Calaveras (skeletons). The painted center image depicts my father in clothes of his youth. Below, on blue velvet, are pinned relics of my father’s past that contain photographic images and objects. Paintings of Angels represent petitioning into heaven (right) and the guardian spirit in life (left). A table with ceramic place settings and a maize centerpiece represent the common bond of my family’s mestizo heritage while a continuous soundtrack contains voices of my family members recalling their memories of my father. 1996-97
“La Voz”, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, May-August 1996
“Families: Rebuilding, Reinventing and Recreating” November 21, 1996 – January 30, 1997, Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA.
