Remembering the impact of international exchanges and takeovers in my own ancestry, in
this painting I use the parrots as allegory to allude to the environmental damage caused by human desire
to invade distant markets vis a vis lands. A once regularly overflowing river in Los Angeles is now tamed
as a concrete-covered stream; expansive valleys are traversed by clogged freeways. And yet, nature
asserts its claim of ownership on the world of humans and their intervention. The stream, aided by a
recent rain, turns into a menacing miniature ocean. A pandemonium of wild Mexican red-crowned parrots
brought to L.A. foreground long-distance trucks carrying the products of intercontinental trade, reminding
us of the fictional construct that are borders. The parrots, like so many Angelenos, may not be from here,
but they are of here. Immigrants, no matter the species, find ways to thrive.