My lost paintings have been found!

This is a rambling post because I am *so* excited!

The paintings (all oil on canvas) that were stolen from me by the Mexican government and 5 years later auctioned off.....................have been found!! 

was contacted by the collector a few years ago, he was at first concerned because he knew they had been stolen, I am grateful he had the moral compass to contact me. We chatted via FaceBook and he assured me he would have the paintings exhibited throughout Mexico.

Sadly, he passed away soon after contacting me... may you rest in peace Omar....Thank you!

All I knew of him was his kindness and that he was a young man. It was very sad. I waited before posting on his *In Memoriam FB wall*....
I didn't want to be disrespectful to all those grieving. I posted again a year later, and so it has gone until TODAY, when I finally received a response from his sister about these pieces that I LOVE so much; she now owns the paintings.

These two were part of the seven and are part of a series I painted entitled "The Soul Keeper."

The one above measures about 20" x 20"
and the one below measures about 3 x 4 feet. Each painting has poetry by one of my two favorite poets (Khalil Gibran and Pablo Neruda) that goes with it.

The US Embassy, the Mexican Embassy..not even the State Department could help me.... I prayed so much for them to come back to me, I imagined them in the same HUGE wooden box I built for them to be shipped there, just leaning outside our little home-I imagined it all with great Faith and prayer and *Quantum physics* imaginings too!

But they never arrived at my doorstep.

The box I shipped them in was so big, I had to enlist the help of 2 friends to carry it on top of a van, I remember driving through snowy streets to ship them down to Mexico...
The last time I saw them....

 *wow* It is very, very AWEsome to know where they are. 

I am not like this with all my work....I have collectors all over the world, many whom I have never met... but this group... (not the first to be stolen either, I had 3 paintings stolen from GALA theater in Washington DC many years ago-I have no documentation of those as I made them especially for the exhibit)- these were my favorite pieces at the time; sent down there for my first Museum show, in my *adopted country* -where my father lived for 8 years as a UN diplomat, where I spent many, many happy vacations....  where now I have not only the connection with my art there, but my Mexican partner in love & life -whom I met during that trip, who has never seen those pieces in person....

The heart's affections are divided like the branches of the cedar tree; if the tree loses one strong branch; it will suffer but it does not die; it will pour all its vitality into the next branch so that it will grow and fill the empty place.

Kahlil Gibran 

This is a small canvas,  I sent three of these they measure 9" x 12" and were part of my "Visual Poetry" series.

This one to the right is super meaningful as I painted it the first time that my son went on a full week's vacation with the ex husband.... I was so worried and concerned, it was my prayer for Sacred care while he was away.
This is a piece that was bathed in tears as I painted it during that week,
lots of rum and cokes and m&m's ..... a time where everything was so new to me. I married so young, that being a divorcee opened up a world of so many things.... dating and dancing and paying bills and worries as a student/working single mom.... but my son was my *all* (still is!).... I pray he is always protected and cared for my *All that Is*.

Love is the only freedom in the world because it so elevates the spirit that the laws of humanity and the phenomena of nature do not alter its course.

Kahlil Gibran

I also sent them some of my favorite "Abstracted figurative" pieces 
This piece measurees 2 x 3 feet (or larger)

These were pieces about love and desire. About broken pieces of humanity coming together to form an "us"

When I painted them, I was going through relationships in the style of the Surrealists: "serial dating"....
I was very interested in the concept of 'soulmates' and unions... sex was for the first time "in mind" and enjoyable (my first marriage is one I was forced into by my mother, it was love-less and sex was a chore).
I discovered so much about myself... a time of shedding and great personal growth.

See the wings? :

God has given you a spirit with wings on which to soar into the spacious firmament of Love and Freedom. Is it not pitiful than that you cut your wings with your own hands and suffer your soul to crawl like an insect upon the earth?

Kahlil Gibran

This piece measures about 2 x 3 feet.

I could go on and on... and in the past I have... before Sergio accidentally crashed my website two years ago, I had documented all my contacts with Mexican and USA authorities to try to get my work back. There, I had letters from Mexico lying about the fact that they had my work... a letter from the Mexican cultural attache, washing his hands off of the whole "affair" (as he put it)- admitting, yet back pedaling re: his knowledge of the theft....  etc. etc.
BUT, I don't want to focus on all the negativity... I am excited to know where these pieces are, and will hopefully someday be able to better document them via good photos or scans.

Spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in man's life, and it is the sole purpose of being. Is not civilization, in all its tragic forms, a supreme motive for spiritual awakening?

Kahlil Gibran

The story: my "disappeared" paintings in Mexico

La Ilusion

Five Years ago I was invited to exhibit my work in a prestigeous art museum in Queretaro, Mexico: Museo Regional de Queretaro. I was thrilled to be exhibiting not only in a museum for the first time, but in Mexico-a country I have always loved since I was little and took many vacations there with my father.
I was ecstatic!

I felt honored and thought of this land I have grown so very fond of, especially after my father's death: he LOVED Mexico too!

The exhibit was organized by SOMAAP Queretaro, and organization similar to the USA's NEA. The exhibit was also auspiced by the University of Queretaro, where I (along with four other Washington DC based artists) were scheduled to lecture about our work, and about our experience working as a Latin American visual artists in the USA.

this is the one piece I miss the most....it is about the first time that my son left for an overnight visit with 'the ex'

I shipped my 7 pieces to Queretaro on February 22, 2005, and I was notified that my paintings arrived in Toluca on March 1st. I dearly love all my work...but artists always have favorites...and these were some of mine. I was glad to know they had "landed" where they were intended to go.

However, as soon as I arrived in Mexico a few days later, I was informed by the SOMAAP organizer in charge of the exhibit that customs was refusing to release my work to the Museum for reasons which I was not privy to. I was not able to get in touch with customs.

I felt so helpless.

The organizers advised me that they would handle the case and help me retrieve my work- I was warned that getting involved with the authorities as a foreigner was not a good idea... though I felt compelled to "do something"....
I knew not what, and the organizers, SOMAAP asked me for the "factura" (Fed Ex receipt), which I handed over; I was assured they would take care of the "problem".

La mentira
Soon there after, I was informed that Customs was demanding money which it should not be asking for as the pieces were intended for a museum rather than a gallery exhibit (for a museum exhibit they would not be for sale, in a gallery setting they would-so it makes a difference tax-wise).
The only 'real' infraction they were reporting was that I had misrepresented my shipment by labeling it '5 pieces' instead of 7 (my mistake: as one is a triptych). I was told to stay calm, that the situation would be resolved in time for the Museum's opening night.
I was a bit nervous, but I had faith.

La mordida. 

Customs never allowed the pieces to be released for the exhibit. At opening night reception..in this most beautiful museum--my paintings were projected on the wall (via my website) and I stood there and spoke about them with longing. Everyone applauded as they heard about their "imprisonment" in Toluca. I felt encouraged that they may be released before the exhibit ended-I had so much support from both the Museum, University, and SOMAAP.

Time was running out, and SOMAAP and its representatives (including a "customs agency" hired by SOMAAP to 'take care of the problem': Prida Bravo)- advised that the pieces be shipped back to the USA as customs was not releasing them in Mexico.

This was a difficult thing to know: they would never see the light in Mexico..but I was ready to have them home.

Problem: Customs officials informed us that if I wanted the work to be shipped back to the USA- they were going to fine me and charge me 'storage fees' in the excess of $1,000.-

Unbelievable! They did not allow the work to be released, held it while we tried to find a solution, then when we ask it be sent back..they decide to fine me! It made no sense to me..and as an idealist, I was saddened yet believed that things would/could work out!

La locura
I was never given an explanation as to why my pieces had been detained in the first place .... at first, I refused to pay. I was indignant at the injustice; however, after a few days I relented and inquired about how much I owed exactly so that I could pay ("storage fees" were increasing by the minute I had been informed).

They responded (via Prida Bravo-the private 'customs go between')that a credit card would not be acceptable. They wanted my checking account number, including routing number...then and only after I gave them the information, they would give me the total amount due and they would withdraw the money from my account at their convenience (!).

Basta!
Instead, the following weekend I flew to Mexico to meet with members of SOMAAP who agreed to help me only if I joined the organization as a member: I had to swear to never share this fiasco with anyone. I remember walking out of their office and feeling like this was all a mysterious "mafia' like setting. I was in their office, they took photos, they were stern and serious and had lawyers present. I remember the relief I felt when stepping out of the building and encountering the typical stand of 'fresh mangoes' in a bag stand. I ate heartily and vowed to not allow this to break my love for Mexico. Things, were 'moving along' in a very strange way.

In the meeting with SOMAAP, I was told that I should be prepared to fly back to Mexico to pay at any moment. Since I was not free to travel (I was a single mom at the time), I wrote a blank check to my Mexican friend (now my husband), and left it with him.
Prida Bravo (the customs agency) soon stopped responding to my e-mails, and SOMAAP had an attorney contact me who soon withdrew when he realized SOMAAP themselves were responsible for the loss of my art.
Bcak in the USA.. I continued to try to resolve the matter without involving the USA...I wanted to be a 'good guest' to this country I love so much. Thus, I contacted the Mexican consulate here in Washington DC, and after a few phone calls, I was invited to the Cultural Institute for a meeting with the conusl. I was then told that I would put SOMAAP's financial support in jeopardy if they were to get involved; they would not be party to it.

I understood then: I was on my own.

SOMAAP informally contacted me to advise me to 'drop my efforts' to locate my work. And, in July, a SOMAAP representative informed me that my pieces had been declared as abandoned on May 10th.
I was devastated.

I was told, that my paintings were going to be destroyed, or auctioned of.

The destruction of artwork in and of itself, goes against Mexican law, which protects artwork -- nobody is allowed to destroy artwork: there are laws "Rights of Patrimony", and the "Ley de Seguimiento' (where the artist has a right to know where the piece is, who has it, etc) but none of that seemed to matter in my case.

Desesperada
Although I began my effort to rescue my work in Mexico and with Mexican authorities as I never wanted to seem like the 'bad gringa' (bringing in the USA to help)... once I heard they had been declared "abandoned", I began to move stateside.

I believe the media ar a huge power in our society, so... I contacted The Washington Post. They were interested in the story *but* they suggested I fly down to Mexico and confront customs in person. I was not able to acquiesce to the request, as I would be unable to leave for an extended period of time due to my duties as a mommy...and my work.
A year had passed. I contacted the State Department. It was amazing how quickly (within hours) I had a response from them. Soon, the State Department had enlisted the help of the American Embassy in Mexico city.
I was relieved. It felt as though finally, my paintings would arrive at my door again.

Alas, I was wrong. The Mexican government-customs in Toluca-claimed they had never seen, heard, nor had my paintings. Aaargh! I could not believe it! I was helpless. It was hopeless.

I was told there was nothing more to be done. I cried.And cried.
I have missed my paintings all of these years, there were some very sentimental pieces included in the lot. Some that I never meant to sell, this is why I sent them to a museum rather than a gallery exhibit.
I often tried to envision the huge wooden box leaning on our front deck...paintings intact.


El principio del Final: Revelation
Five days ago, I received an email.
It said:

"Claudia Olivos,
I wanted to inform you that I purchased your 7 paintings which were sold at a government auction-customs in Toluca".

Yes. The government lied.
They probably wanted a big "mordida"...then different people and organizations and who knows who and why others got involved who did not want to get involved....and finally-time passed, they decided to sell them.

I was shocked when I read the email. I am sad that a couple of those pieces-which I never meant to sell...I will never have again. (of course: I cried).
I am sad that people lie.

But, I am SO happy that the pieces are in good hands. For that, my tears are of joy.
I am so thankful that they are in the hands of someone who was nice enough to contact me and let me know of their new home.
He has even let me know he plans to have them exhibited at local museums in Mexico.

These paintings have a history, and they have stories to tell....
 so this is just the beginning for the rest of their lives.