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Mariposa Machismo is a project involving the butterfly phenomena that occurred in South Texas in the summer and fall
of 2006. The multitude of brown snout-nosed butterflies was generated by the unusual climate circumstances of extreme drought
followed by torrential rains. Global warming was most likely a contributing factor. Curiously, 95% of them were male.(1) It's
ironic in a state that does not exactly support alternative lifestyles (2); millions of male butterflies were flitting and
flirting everywhere. The term “Mariposa” is also street lingo for homosexual in Mexico. (3) The wall installation documents
this unusual phenomena while examining the historical and current social implications of male butterfly bonding. Butterflies
have also typically been associated with the ideals of femininity in the West. (4) The butterflies are rendered on MDF board and
suede paper, that has been rubbed with copper powder, and silkscreened using sand for a textural effect. Mariposa Machismo
offers an enlightened glimpse into the little before known underground culture of brown snout-nosed butterflies. This project
continues an ongoing discourse in my work concerning the intersections of nature, myth, and identity. This installation has
most recently been exhibited at the University of Texas, San Antonio: Art Gallery, as part of the Arte Nuevo show, curated
by Kathy Vargas and Benito Huerta. Elements of the project were also exhibited in the Y Que show, curated by Harmony Hammond,
at Landmark Gallery, Texas Tech University, in Lubbock Texas. Bibliography
1Big-Nosed Butterflies Invade South Texas, John Larson, NBC Nightly News, Aug. 3, 2006.
2www.pinkdome.com
3Butterflies Will Burn: Prosecuting Sodomites in Early Modern
Spain and Mexico by Federico Garza Carvajal, University of Texas Press, 2003.
4 Funk and Wagnels
sabrabooth@sbcglobal.net
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