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As an artist and resident who grew up in the Westlake/MacArthur park neighborhood, and alumni of the Westlake/Macarthur Park, Emmanuel explains the role of memory when painting these conchas.

Through the practice of painting, Emmanuel touches on the subject of cultural translation as the concha enters Western aesthetic vernacular. 


The element of humor in Latin American culture appears in the various names of breads found being baked by the local bakers of Westlake/MacArthur Park as well as throughout Latin American countries. La lengua, le oreja, cuernito, and pan de muerto all reference corporeality; often in Mesoamerican codices, glyphs and place-names utilized dismembered parts of the body as locatives.
In the context of Mexico, bread, specifically bolillos were most likely imported by the French colonial presence in Puebla, Mexico.

The Concha (shell) has been a prominent material throughout Mesoamerican. The Mayan archaeological record features cache offerings of shells along with jade and obsidian that were traded over vast networks connecting the coastal Maya of the Yucatan to inland Maya communities. This elite good indicated access to trade networks, and capital. The shell was associated with the water cult.