Carmel artist Kay Villalobos works in collaboration with her personal assistant, Francisca Hernandez to create unique, visionary works of art. Kay envisions and directs; Francisca understands and executes.
Kay began this collaborative phase of her artistic life after a automobile accident in 1997 resulted in paralysis that extends from her shoulders to her toes. Her first works were one-dimensional collages created from representations of religious iconic art, which were exhibited at the Day of the Dead exhibit at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.
For the 2002 Day of the Dead Steinbeck Center exhibit Kay moved to a two-dimensional piece by creating a large altar that represented a traditional altar seen in Mexican homes. In 2003, her concepts evolved into decorating a chair with a whimsical and religious motif. The chair is crucial to Kay’s imagery as she lives her life in her wheelchair. She views the chair she decorated as central to family life in a Mexican home: a comfortable seating place to have meals, conversation, and prayer. Kay continued to develop the chair motif and her 2004 creation, which included hundreds of glass beads depicting the faces of saints, was included in the Day of the Dead exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
Kay has now expanded her vision by applying collage art to mannequins of female torsos: striking representations of femininity, fertility, and motherhood. They are a celebration of the female form. Kay’s concepts spring from her unique sense of humor and her deep conviction that out of sorrow and misfortune art can be made, and when the creative spirit exists, the artist will find new and ever-evolving ways to express it.