Street Art In San Miguel: The Blue Catrina

By Colleen Sorenson

J Lestath Salazar is a musician, artist and Spanish/English language teacher at Englobe Language Center in Colonia Guadalupe. Growing up, he and his friends rode their bikes everywhere, played in the mud at the Arroyo Cachinches and found inspiration from "lots of nature at the time. Colonia Guadalupe was very special to me, it was very different from what it is now."

As a kid, instead of paying attention in classes, he was always drawing in his notebooks. His drawings tended to be related to rock music, landscapes and portraits of his family. Inventing his own characters after watching horror and mystery movies improved his imagination and his ability to create. "I don't consider that I have a specific style but my main inspiration has been related to music." After 19 years in Aguascalientes, he returned home to San Miguel in 2020 during the pandemic. "I came back to Colonia Guadalupe and all these murals that I had not seen before and took my time to study the area and the murals. It was inspiring, yes?" He decided on a wall that he would like to paint. "I told my mom that I wanted to paint a mural on her wall. She said to me - What are you going to paint because some of your art is a little dark...you know it's like, uh...yes, that's the word...dark, right?" He laughs.

He wanted to show something significant, something strong because it was to be a gift to his mother and also a gift, at his own expense, to Colonia Guadalupe. His idea came from a group challenge to make an ink drawing every day in October. One of those drawings was a catrina. His mother liked the idea of a Catrina and gave her approval.

His first mural (2022), ‘Blue Catrina’ on Tata Nacho with her piercing blue eyes "represents one of our most beautiful crafts in pottery and normally the talavera is painted in blue and white. The earrings are moons that engage us to our natural satellite and the cosmic landscape is because we came from the stars and when we die, we are going to get there again, in some way. The catrina is related to Day of the Dead so it's a metaphor to show something inspiring about the celebrations and Mexican art."

When painting this mural, Lestath felt most comfortable working at midnight under the street lights because he was being pushed to hurry. He likes to take his time, painting alone and only when he is feeling the inspiration. And yes, his mother loves her Blue Catrina.

Lestath is planning his next mural along his mother's wall, replacing the one painted in 2020. "Honestly, I don't like it so my mother allowed me to paint a new mural there." Because it is a rather long wall and the perspective could be a challenge, he decided he would join together two ideas in a style of the Baroque period, playing with light and dark. "One side will be related to the Archangel, the other side legends related to San Miguel and Guanajuato. They will be strongly fighting on equal level, balanced between good and evil, dark and light. It is related to both, in theme and in tones, what we call claro oscuro. It will be beautiful."

He explained that when painting, he is prepared. "I feel with intention. I paint with that intention and I am always prepared for any kind of comments and opinions when I am creating. I want people to enjoy this new mural." He feels lucky because everyone usually likes what he paints. "The job of art is to make you feel, as in music, as in cinema and any other art expression. I believe in freedom and that art is something to be respected. People should be a little more comprehensive and with open mind to any art expression. I believe in that."

Will his new mural be a little bit dark?  With a smile, "It's going to have my touch so yes, it's going to be a little bit dark."

Lestath hopes public art will be supported more through a good relationship with the government and he believes the work of artists should be compensated for, both in public and private spaces. An exception might be when painting your mother's wall as a gift with love. He is happily available for commissions anywhere in San Miguel.

Contact him at 415 216 2357 and Facebook messenger.

Colleen Sorenson: Urban Art Advocate in San Miguel since 2012

colleensorenson.com for mosaic-tiled collaborations with local, national and international street artists.colleensfsa@yahoo.com