Disparte, translated from Spanish, conveys the idea of something without equivalent, beyond rule and reason.

Francisco Goya’s series of etchings known as Dispartes are some of his most critical statements against rules in art and society. I have long been inspired by Goya’s power of composition and use of allegorical elements to articulate issues of gender, power, and the perceptions of good and evil. In homage to his painting, Straw Mannequin, I have created a porcelain piece entitled Homage to Disparte with a similar allegorical intention to translate today’s environmental concerns against the backdrop of our contradictory human behavior.

Reflecting upon the original Three Little Pigs (circa 1840s), the children’s fable exemplifies the concept that moral hard work and dedication pay off. In 1933, Disney’s updated animation of Three Little Pigs, featuring the iconoclastic Big-Bad-Wolf, offered a Depression era allegory: through hard work adversity can be overcome. The Big-Bad-Wolf, symbolizing personal and social strife, at all cost must be overcome.

Homage to Disparte, portrays wildlife at the mercy of domestic life, invasive species, land use, and human folly. Contrasting the wolf and the pig, two widely used animals in allegory, I explore the contradiction between their symbolic reputations and their real existence and impact on the environment. In Homage to Disparte, the wolf is eerily pathetic—suspended in limbo—like the endangered Mexican Wolf, a subspecies of the Grey Wolf. Unlike the allegorical reputation of the Big-Bad-Wolf, the real Mexican Wolf is in peril of extinction in my home state of New Mexico. While domestic and feral pigs alike, impact the environment in dramatic ways without human intervention.

The history of the wolf is that of threatening predator, yet who is more of a threat now?