A Prayer for the Earth
solo exhibition
Carnegie Art Museum
Oxnard, California
September 11—November 21 2004
Excerpt from essay by Ann Landi, contributing editor of ARTnews and author of the four-volume Schirmer Encyclopedia of Art, to accompany a series of national solo exhibitions:
Linda Vallejo’s art grows out of her experiences with different cultures over the course of decades of far-flung travel and careful study. The daughter of an Air Force colonel, she spent several years in Europe as a child and young woman, absorbing Western traditions in the great museums and ancient sites. She turned to painting and drawing at an early age: “Art and artistic expression were my first language,” as she puts it. When she returned to the U.S. after attending high school and college in Spain, Vallejo became interested in contemporary Chicano culture. She and her husband also spent time traveling through Mexico, visiting Mayan and Aztec ruins and learning the history of that civilization. And from her home base in Topanga Canyon, California, she has been involved with Native American and Mexican rituals and ceremonies for the past 25 years.
Artist Statement by Linda Vallejo
A Prayer for the Earth critical essay by Ann Landi
Exhibition brochure Exhibition flier ArtScene ad Press release Artist statement