Paradise Lost

Acrylic, latex & spray paint on canvas, 48” x 72”, 5,000 USD

This painting was intended for the viewer to feel as though they were walking through the jungle and ‘discovered’ a lost city. In this fictional narrative, I’m poking fun at the notion of ‘discovery,’ using the popularization of food trucks as an example. Food trucks had been around for a few decades in Los Angeles’s mostly Mexican-American communities, and were derogatively referred to as ‘roach coaches’ by others. But due to celebrity chefs, reality TV shows, and pop culture, they’re now seen in a positive light by White audiences who’ve ‘discovered’ them.