Portals
In this body of work, I revisit my foundational welding knowledge that I gained while working with my late Tio Ben. Together we made gates, enclosures, window guards, handrails, and countless other functional wrought iron structures throughout the Inland Empire. The skill needed to create what he did was an art in itself, but his work was primarily seen through a practical lens. These works are my way of paying respect to the trade he taught me and the confidence he gave me to expand upon it. These pieces combine wrought iron and forged steel frames with hand formed sheet metal and cast aluminum elements to reference cultural and historical attributes within California’s Inland Empire and Latin America. Structurally, they are all window and door elements. Metaphorically they come together to reference a home. Home is where you store memories, love, pain, and growth. It is mutable and ever-changing. The entry to this home is a doorway guarded by agave. The windows give you a peak to where I have been and what I have experienced.
Please come in.
