Art lovers and the simply curious flocked over to San Luis Public Library for the grand opening of this year’s Origins art exhibit. The works of more than a dozen artists were on display, some being Arizona Western College students, alumni and professors.

For a fourth consecutive year, San Luis, Ariz., has had the honor of hosting Origins, their annual Hispanic Heritage Month art exhibition, which ran from mid-September 14 through mid-October at the San Luis Library.

Artworks in many mediums were on display – paintings, ceramic works, sculptures, computer designs, photography – reflecting the artists’ ideas and beliefs as well as their own self-image and their lives.

One work that stood out was Enoc Palafox’s La Esposa de la Muerte, a beautiful portrait with a bride fully dressed in her gown with her skull showing she is dead, thus the bride of death.

Some of the artists were also inspired by athletes, like Michelle Mendenhall with her vibrant and colorful portrait of soccer star Neymar, Jr.

Daniel Vazquez’s miniature sculptures of science fiction movie series characters from Star Wars included the robot R2-D2.

“It’s fun and exciting what I do. It’s a passion I have for art,” said Vazquez. “I love seeing little events in my hometown grow like it is today.”

Other artists also draw from their own experiences, like AWC Professor of Fine Arts Jules Floss in her drawing “Buffalo Fly Buffet,” which is actually fungus but a frog at the same time – a sort of camouflage idea. She got the idea from a childhood experience.

 “Art has the ability to speak through imagery, and it shows that appearances are not always what they seem to be,” said Floss. “Art has the power to reflect an individual and our time.”  

What a way to remember the history of how Hispanic culture came to be.

Photos courtesy of Yuma County Library