What about the middle sized paintings?

They're more or less like the small pictures in terms of the way I do them and their effects.

Could you say anything about specific influences in your art-in either subject or style-or of artists you've admired?

Well, there are lots of artists I'm very interested in. There's something to learn from virtually everyone. When I think about questions of light, I always think about Matisse or the light of the Impressionists. In terms of paintings with greater detail, Flemish Renaissance art comes to mind. Insofar as subject matter is concerned, I'm very impressed by Maria Izquierdo, Olga Costa and other women painters of that period. Although they're of a different time, they dealt with things that were as relevant and meaningful to them as the things I paint are for me. There is a freshness in their work that I don't often find in paintings by many artists of today. In general though, no matter what I look at I learn something from it.

Are you very conscious of any specific female-ness in your art?

Not necessarily. I hardly have any consciousness of my own identity when I'm painting. However, I'm certainly conscious of being a woman artist-and it's caused me a number of problems, especially in Mexico given the position of women there. And I certainly have empathy for other women artists. I feel as if I'm going beyond those unspoken rules of what it is to be a woman and an artist. Perhaps I've been a bit too aggressive for a Mexican taste.

As a Mexican artist living in the United States what do you see as the present and future role of Mexican artand Latin American art in general-in the consciousness of a North American public?

There's certainly more of a willingness now to take it seriously. I've seen a change in this even since I arrived in this country and it gives me a certain optimism. It seems as if there's a tremendous desire to search for new sources of vitality in art. So much art being done now in Europe and the United States is very conceptual-so cerebral, driven purely by ideas. And it's getting somewhat tired. I think that Mexico has an extremely powerful visual tradition-its visual heritage is stronger than any other cultural element. When people outside of Mexico realize this I think that it will be something that they will actually need as a source of artistic energy for them.