beatrizcarmenmendoza @ gmail.com
beatriz carmen mendoza was born in the warm sunny salt of south florida, but now resides in the lush old mountains of western north carolina where she makes art, grows flowers and tends to a small organic farm. she received a number of degrees from various institutions- including a b.a. in painting from columbia university, and a graduate degree in scientific illustration from uc santa cruz. she still believes that slowing down and listening are the greatest teachers. when not drawing the miraculous fragments around her or tending to her ducks, she tours with an artist collective (www.beehivecollective.org) that uses storytelling and large scale drawings as tools for environmental and social justice education.
the act of looking and drawing for me is a process of unfolding, an intimate unraveling.
upon close observation, the microcosm blossoms.
here lies the unexpected beauty of detritus: the delicate geography of these fragments-
they are everywhere miracles: the elegance of dirt, the flowering of decay, incidental harmonies.
i am fascinated by the architecture of disintegrating parts, by the abundance in these minute intersections.
these are portraits, intricate eulogies to the overlooked, the decomposing, the unsung.