Francesco Siqueiros
Arbor Cognitionis, 2019
Serigraph, ed. 68
28”x21”

Drawing upon Catholic imagery, such as the Tree of Knowledge, along with indigenous symbolism, Siqueiros explores the concept of performance and artifice, and the creation of meaning in the construction of our history. In presenting a nuanced interpretation of this history, he depicts a Euro-American figure adorned with a variety of garments that each represent different forms of colonizing forces. Conquistadors, cowboys, pilgrims, French nobility, and other forms all come together into a single intrusive entity that disrupts the established life of the indigenous peoples of the New World.

Francesco Siqueiros is the founder of El Nopal Press: Limited Edition Fine Art Printing, established in 1990 in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. With over twenty years of printmaking and artistic experience, Siqueiros has also served as an arts educator at several southern California universities and colleges, including the University of California Los Angeles, the University of California Santa Cruz, the University of Southern California, Otis College of Art & Design, and more. His work has been exhibited domestically and internationally in Mexico and France.