Series: Wild Atlantic Porcelain

Part allegory, part portrait, this painting series explores grief, the masks of idealized identity and reality beyond the surface. Drawing inspiration from formal eighteenth-century portraiture, each platter, adorned with delicate floral patterns on porcelain china, becomes a symbol of the curated life: happy families, holiday traditions, and the pursuit of a beautiful home. Yet behind the bone-white glaze lies a deeper narrative. As a second-generation Mexican American, I question the cost of assimilation and search for a cultural connection that has been suppressed. These works also speak about personal loss, and to a broader erosion, of ancestral memory, and a world of ecological abundance. Still, through the cracks, beauty, love and humor persist.

	The Last Fish Installation of a large altar image in saturated teal blue colors is the backdrop for a central painting called Once You're A Plate You Can Never Go Back with antique platters hand painted in gold with extinct or endangered fish species like stations of the Cross, surrounding the painting.  Acrylic house paint on wood panel and vintage porcelain, 9.5' x 7'. Individual component photos by Lynne Damianos Photography. Below: Installation shown at Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado, Set The Table Exhibit, May 15th -August 2nd, 2026.
	School Lunch Installation of a large one room school house image in saturated chartreuse is the backdrop for a central painting called Heirloom. Vintage platters, hand painted with a primary-colored small semi-automatic guns surrounding the red and black painting.  Acrylic house paint on wood panel and vintage porcelain, 9.5' x 6'. Individual component photos by Lynne Damianos Photography. Below: Installation shown at Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado, Set The Table Exhibit, May 15th -August 2nd, 2026.
	Wild Atlantic Porcelain A Trompe l’oeil painting of an antique fish platter tries to re-enter its former pre-plate existence. A blue moon is reflected in the waters of the wild Atlantic.  Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 72" x 48". Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Once You're A Plate You Can Never Go Back A realistic Trompe l’oeil painting of a vintage porcelain fish platter that is trying to re-enter its former pre-plate existence. The blue ribbon border of the platter is repeated in the pond and mimics waves and ripples on the water’s surface. 60" x 48".  Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Souvenir Beach An abstract and surreal landscape mimics the scene painted on a vintage platter of a large sturgeon in a beautiful sea. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 60" x 36". Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Sun Sets On Porcelain Charger Strange and surreal seascape depicting a smoke tinted sky and a large vintage porcelain charger that glows from a setting sun’s reflection. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 60" x 36".  Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Corona Abstract and surreal landscape includes a ceramic fish plate that is an inspiration of the painted landscape. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 16" x 24". Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Pond Life Although encapsulated in a porcelain glazed plate, a small fish eagerly dives into a verdant green pond. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 48.5" x 24.5".  Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Piece Of My Heart A trompe l’oeil painting of a warped, lovingly preserved antique platter  gazes out as a family portrait and floats in a swirling abstract red  and black background. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 72" x 42".  Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Heirloom An abstract intense red and black background contrasts with a strangely flattened porcelain platter with delicate flowers and gold ribbon edge. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 44" x 33.5".  Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.
	Faces Of The Moon A trompe l’oeil painting of a white porcelain platter with delicate floral motifs floats in front of another moon shaped object in a mysterious and moody setting. Acrylic house paint on wood panel, 48" x 48". Photo by Lynne Damianos Photography.