Gift of the Camino

Culture as Ecology- a new understanding

July 6, 2025

Stepping Out

I was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas on the Mexican border. The culture of this blended area reflects my bi-cultural heritage (daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and an all-American father of Scottish origin) but my fair coloring and Anglo surname marked me an outsider in the predominantly Mexican-American community.

I was always questioned- Where are you from, really? And so, I’ve always felt like an outsider in my own home. Historically, I am- descended from invaders- naturalized, but not from this land. And I’ve been thinking about this reality in the face of our country’s current political unrest.

I started to question my American identity and the hierarchies imposed by those in power, wielding morality to assert control. I read about our history, and the philosophical truths we take for granted like the virtues of capitalism and Christianity. I learned about other philosophies and other ways of relating. And in all that searching and reading and reflecting, I began to understand a need to find my own ground.

Family oral history backed by genetic testing to confirm my ancestral origins lead me to Galicia not to lay claim, but to ask questions and to listen for answers.

I wondered, if my ancestors grew with this land for hundreds of years, would I still know it at some level? And though my logical-self may question the legitimacy of my recent experiences there, as I looked out the windows of the train leaving Galicia for Madrid to fly back to Texas, I knew at some deep level, this place was home and that I would be back.

My creative practice has been painting the native wildlife of South Texas- a world I know and love. What pushed me into that space was a reaction to the human systems that didn’t sit well with my being. Too much time spent in artificial habitats of air-conditioning and florescent lights had me searching for something that felt more authentic and healthier.

So, into the wild spaces I went, not to lay claim but to learn. There I find a world of joy and beauty that captivates and holds me and shows me another way seeing and knowing. My artwork, inspired by these encounters, reflect my experiences there. I paint what I see, as I see it. And as I layer the paint to create the illusion of space or water or feathers, it is always from a place of love for this subject, or else the painting just doesn’t work.

Through my practice, using art to engage with and learn from this natural world, I am witness to a reality not centered on human structures and systems. And I believe that understanding is fundamental to solving some of the biggest challenges we now face as a species. But I was also running away, driven by the need to distance myself from a world that felt flat and inauthentic.

By contrast, my paintings reflect a delving into a world rich with life full of endless movement and interconnections. They function as portals into which we can get lost in our experiences, traveling around with color and light and details, that in their multitudes, like so many painted spines on a cactus, we can shut off the parts of our minds that worry about human realities- too often limited in their scope and understanding.

Culture as Ecology

But my time in Galica offered a new and unexpected insight. Within this beautifully preserved corner of the world, within a community of locals and pilgrims, I could see the diversity of cultures like different plants within a dynamic landscape. And suddenly, a new understanding began to emerge where ecological realism is no longer in opposition to humanity.

It’s an idea that’s playing around the edges of my understanding. And while I don’t know entirely how it will influence the work to come, it feels novel and right. This was the gift of my Camino and what I take into a new body of work.