Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas

I had an exciting, as well as, a frightening trip to Ciudad Victoria.

The excitement;  I saw the work of local artists Carlos Sanchez and Carlos Victoria. A wonderful display of Figurative and Abstract paintings. Some created using the Impasto technique, other presented using a smother brush stroke. Here are my favorite ones -

They were taken using a cell phone and I had to avoid glare from the natural light that was coming in from above. Being a short dude, I could not get high enough to avoid the glare, so I had to move off center and to the side.

The Frightening; Law enforcement are comprised of Army Soldiers, Federal, and State Police. There is no local law enforcement. Due to the corruption that exists, local law enforcement was stripped of power and higher levels of government took their place.

Until the last 4-5 years, Ciudad Victoria has was known as a lovely capital city of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. While the locals continue on with their daily lives they all have learned to live in this new hostile environment (http://www.hoytamaulipas.net/notas/108433/Mueren-42-personas-a-manos-de-Patrulla-Fronteriza-en-ocho-anios.html). Local news are sanitized, and most of the locals communicate happenings using Facebook.

The locals move about freely during the day, but use caution during the night hours. Most of their children have overnight stays at their friends house to avoid traveling after midnight. Soldiers and federal police patrol the streets and enforce curfews. Soldiers are known to open fire on the bad guys regardless of civilians being present. One example is that of a patrol opening fire on the bad elements at a stop light. Heavy arms fire not only heard, but felt. Two flee the scene only to be chased, dragged back to the vehicle and shot.

My next stop is Monterrey, Mexico.

Artistic Process

I have never really known how to talk about my artistic process, at least not without thinking and writing, reading, and re-reading my statement for weeks at a time. Only to find later that I want to change what I said initially.

Perhaps, that is because I don’t find it too particularly interesting.  I'm not out to create or tell great story or agenda.  While I’m a politically driven artist there’s no statement being made that I’m readily aware of.  In fact, what I do is fairly simple.  I produce photographs.  Using light to drip, scrape, smear, or brush, but that’s all I do.