"Works 2000-2011"
A Decade of Historical, Cultural and Literary Research and Discovery
For most of the decade I was wrapped up in a hypnotic, fascinating voyage of discovery, a poetic road trip through the complex histories of my adopted city, Los Angeles, in the monumental prject I called "All the Saints of the City of the Angels." This deep digging into LA's past led me to create "Saints, Shadows and Bloodshed," which focuesd on the painful histories of 19th century LA.
Not so long after, I was awarded a fellowship and residency in Bahia, Brazil, with its own painful history of colonialization and culture clashes, during which time I was invited to paint a mural for the island community.
Upon my return to LA, I was invited to create what became apparently the largest illustrated city map in the United States (5 feet high x 23 feet wide), a literary map of Los Angeles - which, in turn, led to my invitation to create original artwork to accompany a cross-selection of literary works by LA writers of various cultural backgrounds.