La Siguanaba Materials: Watercolor, Ink pen Year: 2020 Class: Adv
Artist Statement: Stories of tricksters have always intrigued me, so it wasn't much of a surprise that I was interested in the story of the Siguanaba. Learning it through my mother, I discovered that the Siguanaba is a woman who apparently appears gorgeous from behind (as she seemingly only appears mysteriously to lone travelers). Yet looks are ultimately deceiving, because according to rumor-managing to touch, or look at her face transforms her in a horse-like beast, and you go insane once her true appearance is revealed. My aunt had even explained to me how a good, respectable man in her town had suddenly gone mad after he'd supposedly picked up a wandering woman on the road. I wanted to experiment and capture this image of a person who is both ghastly and delicate in feature, and attempting to do it in watercolor after so long added to the unique vision.
Los Cadejos Materials: Watercolor, gel pen Year: 2020 Class: Adv.
Artist Statement: This artwork has a special connection to me, or more especially my mother. When she was a child, away from the United States and living in a humble village where everybody knew everyone-she experienced something that's struck her even to this day. She saw the white cadejo, a spirit dog in Latino culture who both guides and protects the women and young of the world from evil, which is represented by the black cadjeo. She's described it to me many times as a beautiful animal with the reddest eyes like lamps in the night, I hoped to be able to give that memory justice within my work. I wanted to be able to depict her vision as if it were mine, so I used watercolor to give the murky backdrop the hazy effect of one's mind causes, along with the sharpness of pen.