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"My Nature is Hunger" Painting by Mark Vallen "My Nature is Hunger" Painting by Mark Vallen
"My Nature is Hunger" Painting by Mark Vallen "My Nature is Hunger" Painting by Mark Vallen

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"My Nature is Hunger"
Mark Vallen 2005
Oil on masonite panel 20" x 26"

This painting is the cover art for My Nature Is Hunger: New And Selected Poems, 1989 - 2004, by award-winning author, Luis J. Rodríguez.

Artist's statement:

"Taking its title from the writer's anthology of poems, I sought to create an image that reflected the spirit of the poet's words. A personal friend of mine, Rodríguez told me the poems in this particular collection were about the different forms of 'hunger' people experience - the hunger for knowledge, social justice, love, and a better life."

"I chose to paint a young teenage Chicana holding a boy in her arms. The girl looks worried, and much too old for her age - one also has to wonder if the rather defiant looking boy she holds is her own child.

My painting is an all too familiar scene from the mean streets of Los Angeles where I grew up, and the work fundamentally expresses the desire - or hunger, for a different
type of life."

Prints of Vallen's painting are available on this website.
"My Nature is Hunger" (Detail) Painting by Mark Vallen "My Nature is Hunger" (Detail) Painting by Mark Vallen
"My Nature is Hunger" (Detail) Painting by Mark Vallen "My Nature is Hunger" (Detail) Painting by Mark Vallen
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