Hunting for Orchids

In 1944, Edward James, an English aristocrat and patron of Surrealism, arrived in Xilitla, Mexico. He had fled England after his wife named his homosexuality in their divorce papers. Rumor has it he met Plutarco Gastélum, "a tour guide who brought him hunting." Locals will clarify they were hunting for orchids, which had become a European craze and colonial fantasy.

They also confirm a long, secret queer relationship that led to a collaboration: Las Pozas, a surrealist garden in the jungle. As the two traveled the world, they sent inspiration back to their fabricators on photographs and postcards; fabricators who remain uncredited to this day for the moldes and concrete structures that make up Las Pozas. My interest in the story, and in the site, is how desire, extraction, and the power to name decide who is remembered.
Hunting for Orchids (snake/cyclops/clit), 2025
Carved cherry, maple, and walnut wood; tung oil
15 × 18 × 15 inches



Heart Molde, 2023
Poplar wood, brads, wax, concrete, confetti, blood, stain
24 × 24 × 8 inches


alien / illegal / undocumented / immigrant / explorer / settler / colonizer, 2023
earth, concrete, confetti, balloons, blood
24 × 24 × 8 inches