Enrique Ferreol

Bio-click here

Growing up in Mexico you can't escape its rich history and tradition, particularly the manifestations of people's devotions combined. Syncretic altars containing images of Catholic and pre-Columbian imagery together with  pop culture and personal elements; "offerings" adorned with Christmas lights, were not hard to find in places like auto body shops or markets. I'm deeply inspired by this.

In my explorations of visual expression I found that altars, as a surface, serve very well the artistic purpose of pointing something out, in a specific way, for a specific reason. A meaningful thing in a sacred space. I placed objects, found and created, in altars as I would spread paint on a canvas, or graphite on paper. Using text as texture, or to complement the visual image with written language, or both.

For many years I dissected existing religious images and mixed them with my personal iconography. In the last series of altars I produced, on view here, I used the ubiquitous icon of the human heart, appropriated it, and expressed with it what my own heart was going through during the process of immigrating to Canada.

When a friend of mine, an artist from Arizona, who loves Mexico and its culture, learned that I had moved to Canada, he couldn't believe it. -What are you doing there, in the snow and cold? He asked. -What is your Jaguar heart doing in the land of Bears? -Are you in love? He asked. I was.

So, I created an altar portraying my jaguar heart in the land of bears and snow.

What is Your Jaguar Heart