Original artwork description:

Original artwork of the city of Toluca, Mexico painted on canvas and stretched on double wooden bars. The canvas is cut out in the windows and painted plexiglass is placed behind it, allowing the painting to be backlit.

I have passed through Toluca only briefly on one of my many visits to Mexico but I was immediately fasicinated by the stain glass mural of the Cosmovitral (The botanical garden). This made me want to explore the city more and eventually I decided to paint it, just like ten other cities of Mexico.

Detailed description:

The stain glass murals of the botanical garden are the most recognizable landmark of Toluca. The artist Leopoldes Flores created these amazing glass paintings. Creating the luminescence of glass window is almost impossible to achieve in a painting. Therefore, I decided to cut open the canvas and place an acrylic glass behind it. I used glass paint to recreate the murals. By doing so the painting can be backlit now, allowing the glass windows to glow like the originals.

Other landmarks of the painting are the cathedral of Toluca, the church El Carmen, City Hall, the pavilion of the central square and the “Portales,” the arches that many buildings in the city have.

On the top left a mermaid is visible. This refers to an ancient legend, “The mermaid in the lake,” which tells the story of a girl who went into the volcano lake of Toluca to protect it for all eternity.

In the center I painted a flower. It I called “La Manitas Rojas” (Little red hands). It is a tree that only grows in Toluca and has become the symbol of the city. The blossoms look like a hand with five fingers, thus giving the tree its name.

Materials used:

Acrylics on canvas, paint on plexiglas for windows.

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