I'll be collecting plants till the end of the lock down in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you have any plant or herb that you would like to add please contact me directly at [email protected]

This site-specific drawing is an intervention that transforms the way we experience the space in relationship to the inner landscape of our psyche. For me a mural is not just an individual action in a pre-defined surface but an inclusion of other elements, both physical and metaphorical, that contribute to change that unidirectional relationship between artist and object.

For 838M space I mapped secret herbs that grow in the urban landscape around the location, and claimed their potential to contribute with a story. For a couple of days I walked and collected hidden herbs, following a path of healing that would connect the gallery space with the surround urban flora. The plants, Mint, Mugwort and Fennel, have unique stories, from myth and healing properties to their own origins.

By mixing the paint with the herbal remedies and pigments from those plants,  I created a particular blend or “potion” to infuse a sense of flow into the space. 

836M
836 Montgomery St
San Francisco

This project will be on view till the end of May, 2020
Learn more about this project here

Botanica “La Mirada”, a research based project developed during my art residency at the Monterey Museum of Art La Mirada, combines traditional herbalism, social critique and personal cartography.

Inspired in the syncretic folk medicine and spiritual traditions of Spanish and Indian cultures, this art project offers an alternative way of looking at issues of colonization, power dynamics and cultural assimilation. 

Having the city of Monterey as the background, I embarked on a pilgrimage to map gardens from the Spanish and Mexican period, incorporating native, invasive and naturalized plants into herbal remedies that will be shared with the public.

This project is informed not only by historic data, but it also incorporates myths and legends that shaped the history of Monterey, from its past forms of colonialism to the present ones.
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DISCLAIMER: The medicines in this project are all made with natural ingredients grown in Monterey, California. They carry all the healing properties attributed by ancestral knowledge. However, they don’t intend to offer any solution to current health care problems but a playful 
way to reclaim herbalism as a form of institutional critique and resistance towards our capitalistic culture.

 
Parallel to my exhibition at the Monterey Museum of Art, I'll be an Artist-In-Residence at the MMA La Mirada during the month of September.

Herbs have been used for thousands of years, both medicinally and ritually. In pagan and popular traditions around the world, the use of herbs is linked to ritual practice.  With the rise of new age spirituality in a skeptical world, we are overwhelmed by the revival of potions, remedies, amulets and spells with the desire of feeling more connected with the natural world.

I grew up in a part of Spain where popular culture associated certain plants with specific purposes, specially around pagan celebrations like Solstice or Samhain. This special interest in medicinal plants has taken me to participate a few times at the Northern California Herbal Symposium since I came to California in 2004. I am aware of the healing power of plants and also the role that traditionally they have played in ritual practice.

Through my residency at La Mirada, I’d like to explore the relationship between plants, ritual practices and this new global culture. I plan to do a research first about te healing properties of the plants that grow in the garden and other urban areas. Using the New Age metaphysical format I will use La Mirada as a platform where I will be able to research, experiment and create customize recipes, elixirs, and incorporate them into daily rituals.  This work will be site-specific, meaning that it will be inspired by the stories of Monterey Bay and it’s people.

The art residency will culminate with a ritual/celebration around the Fall Equinox on September 22 with the participation of the local community. 

I was honored to be invited to create a site-specific installation for the entrance of stARTup Art Fair at Hotel del Sol. During three days, the Hotel gets transformed into a pop-up venue featuring independent artists, non-profit art organizations, art panels, etc. 

As part of Special Projects, I transformed the sidewalk and entryway of the hotel into an inviting environment, creating a path that leads the public from the street to the hotel courtyard. Using recycled hotel carpets I designed a repetitive pattern that extends from the floor to the wall evoking an arabesque motive.

On it's fourth year, stARTup has become a destination event, attracting artists, art industry leaders, and art collectors from across the U.S. and beyond.

Learn more about stARTup Art Fair here