Public Works
I consider fresco painting as the origin of painting, the oldest frescoes paintings are sacred images linked to mysticism or religion and in some way didactic. So my strongest references are more related to Ancient Egypt, Aegian Civilizations, Mycenaeans and Prehispanic Mexico among others. Painting served a public interest not individual nor personal, in a religious context it was made as a kind of offering for the Gods.
We began to create a symbolic program that would give a narrative to the tour of the hotel, based on Zapotec mythology (one of the ethnic groups with the largest population in Oaxaca), we generated a story that celebrates life, through concepts such as seed, Mother , grandmother, sun, moon, birth, annunciation, father, flower, fruit, water. The esthetically for some results a mix between Mediterranean and Mexican from boma they called him zapogreek. I think it is wise and it reassures me to see that coming out like this, the Zapotec theme seemed foreign to me and I did not want to fall into a cultural appropriation without imagination. I think that the concepts and color palettes that were used are quite universal, but in the end they have a cultural card that is what makes me up.
I expressed these ideas in 2015 to the owners of the Pug Seal hotel. In 2019 they started the project in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. The owners and architects had seen my work and heard my thoughts about fresco paintings and they invited me to participate because the building inspired them to put my work on it. The project was developed remodeling an old house from the 19 century in the center of Oaxaca
In the beginning we agreed on only one of the wals, in the first floor, everyone liked it so much that we extended the collaboration to the whole floor and we ended up doing the complete hotel, first and second floors.
"The new Great White in Larchmont opens this week on September 17 for Australian-influenced all-day LA dining, with a heavy sprinkling of Mediterranean and a lessor dash of Asian flavors thrown in for good measure."
"The colorful mural inside the dining room comes from Spanish-born Rafael Uriegas, who uses “abstract landscapes, warm colors, and shapes” to suggest the paintings are a “container of life.” Pots come from Venice ceramicist Sara Karkenny, with dried floral arrangements by the Unlikely Florist, another Venice-based operator. There are about 40 seats inside with another 50 on the outside"