Alfredo Arreguín is a Mexican American whose paintings contain densely patterned surfaces with precise details rendered in rich, jewel-like colors. The sources for his paintings are as complex as the works themselves, and often include references from Central America, Europe, and the Near East. His experiences in the Mexican rain forest of Guerrero and in the temperate rain forest near his Seattle home have inspired many lush and beautiful tributes to rain-forest ecosystems.

In his triptych Sueño (Dream: Eve before Adam), the intricate patterns typical of the artist’s work both reveal and conceal plant, animal, and human forms symbolizing Eve, female goddesses, and protector figures. In each panel the face of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist and wife of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, can be discovered by searching through the forms of the highly animated surface. Further scrutiny of the panels reveals a host of other images that allude to past and present Mexican cultural sources, including pre-Columbian architectural ruins and the rich colors and teeming life of the lush tropical environment.

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