east of the river

(exhibited at avenue 50 studio september 12 — october 4  2009)

“east of the river” is collection of images from “perdido en calfas” that includes several recent polaroids. it is less about the loss in ‘perdido’ and more about the experiences with the landscapes and objects that shaped my desires of the world. the accompanying narrative are the memories, regrets and hopes that polaroid images seem to evoke. some are shared experiences and some are uniquely mine. “perdido en califas” were pieces of memory—broken glass that i  put back together for myself. “east of the river” becomes the path in the desert that my ancestors took and many others from mexico to east of the river, and to los angeles. after swimming  through the murky polaroid mist i made it back here, made it back home.

i met this river first from the back seat of my father’s chrysler. i met it with wonderment that in a city of concrete there would be a river only to discover that it too was made of concrete. the older i grew the more i explored it. eventually i found myself at one of its many sources. the irony that it was filled with stones.

this river is a mystery and a barrier. it is a snake in the midst of my home. i fear it for what it hides. i exalt it for its defiance when it rages. i pity it for what we have done to it as it trickles through the city. yet have walked its parts and found peace.

(the remaining catalog of images can also be found in perdido en califas

“roys” 1989 catalog no. 02

“cafe” 1989 catalog no. 03

“beat 64” 1990 catalog no. 08

“old pachuco” 1990 catalog no. 09

“gold plated ride” 1990 catalog no. 10

“untitled” 1997 catalog no. 13

“the escape artist” 1996 catalog no. 14

“the furnace” 1996 catalog no. 16

“jesse disappears” 1996 catalog no. 18

“untitled” 1996 catalog no. 19

“untitled” 1996 catalog no. 20

“untitled” 1996 catalog no. 21

“untitled” 2000 catalog no. 22

“time” 2000 catalog no. 24

“desert peacocks”1998 catalog no. 25

“untitled” 1998 catalog no. 26

“nogales” 1997 catalog no. 30

“tapas” 2005 catalog no. 32

“cafe social” 2005 catalog no. 33

“untitled” 2005 catalog no. 37

“the earth is brown” 2006 catalog no. 40

“untitled” 2006 catalog no. 43

“1948” 2006 catalog no. 45

“evergreen no. 1” 2006 catalog no. 47

“untitled” 2005 catalog no. 49

“untitled” 2003 catalog no. 51

“window no.1” 2006 catalog no. 52

“untitled” 2006 catalog no. 53

“tree study no.1” 2005 catalog no. 55

“untitled” 2005 catalog no. 56

“untitled” 2005 catalog no. 57

“untitled” 1992 catalog no. 58

“untitled” 2000 catalog no. 59

“pearblossom highway” 1989 catalog no. 60

: :   : :