The Golden Lining

Artists Juan Travieso and Katerina Santos work together as a mural collective. Tratos melds the artists’ surnames and also means “a deal or a bond” in Spanish. Travieso and Santos make a pact with each other to create paintings that reflect complicated realities and also their hopes for the future. In this site-specific mural, created for the Frost Art Museum, the artists address environmental changes that have affected Florida’s natural environment and honor one of Florida’s most endangered species, the panther.

Here, the artists combine hyperreal representation (such as the panther) with elements of abstraction (the floating prism forms). This mural presents a singular panther walking out of a silhouette of another. The panther, surrounded by foliage native to Florida, moves toward the viewer. Behind the panther, environmental devastation erupts propelled by deforestation and changes in the climate. Habitat loss and degradation threaten the survival of the panther. The blue butterflies also reference endangered species as multiple, blue-tinged butterflies are listed on Florida’s endangered species list. The artists incorporate a gold frame as a symbol of optimism.

The panther distinguishes Florida’s diversity as a habitat. This mural, an art form that has blossomed in Miami, encourages consideration of the plight of this native animal. FIU chose the panther as its mascot in 1987.

For more information on Tratos visit: www.11tratos.com/murals

Tratos, The Golden Lining, Acrylic and gold leaf, 2022