The first time I visited the Rema Hort Mann Fund during Art Week in New York, I was deeply moved by the experience. 

Being in that environment awakened the desire to contribute through my art, and that possibility became a reality when I met Elysia Borowy, Executive Director of the RHMF. Thanks to her keen vision, I was offered the opportunity to create a portrait of Jacolby Satterwhite for the 2026 gala, where he would be honored with the inaugural Artists Living with Cancer Grant. 

 

It was arranged for us to meet at his home in Brooklyn, and even though I was already familiar with his work and the many forms his practice had assumed over the years, my artistic process always begins with an in-person interview. 

 

His home was an extension of his art: paintings, drawings, objects, even works woven into the carpets that defined the space where our conversation took place. And despite the pain and exhaustion caused by his infected injury, he opened his doors and welcomed me with kindness. 

 

We talked about his childhood, the different roles he had taken on within his family and throughout his life, and the fundamental role his mother, Patricia, had played in both his personal and artistic journey. Remaining present in the moment, I was attentive to his gaze, pauses, intonation, and everything that unfolded between the lines.

 

During the photographic session that followed, which would eventually provide the reference for my painting, his performance skills immediately came into play. While overcoming physical limitations, he was incredibly generous, finding poses that revealed his wound with remarkable grace and virtuosity. It immediately brought to mind Jacolby’s work Room for Doubt, in which Caravaggio’s painting, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas becomes a point of departure for an exploration of empathy toward others’ suffering.  

 

Once back in Mexico, I read the book that he gently gifted me, watched his interviews and exhibitions, and followed the evolution of his practice. I was immediately struck by the vulnerability and boldness of his art, and among the elements that accompanied me most intensely while painting was his music project PAT (which takes its name from his mother Patricia Satterwhite), in collaboration with Nick Weiss. The project transformed Patricia’s original a cappella recordings into a new musical and visual universe. The whole spectrum of his art led me to think deeply about inheritance and became inseparable from the image that was slowly forming on the canvas. 

 

For much of his career, Jacolby has returned to his mother’s drawings and creative work becoming source material for another generation of ideas. In a very different way, I found myself entering a similar process. Just as his mother's art had shaped his artistic world; I tried to allow myself to be transported and inspired by Jacolby’s art while creating mine. What began as drawings has since expanded into digital art, 3D printing, music, and dance, a continuing evolution that now finds its way into my own painting through this portrait. 

 

It was both a profound experience and a challenging task, but one that has undoubtedly marked a before and an after in my artistic journey. 

 

It is a great honor to use this painting not only as a tribute to an extraordinary artist, but also as a way of supporting the Rema Hort Mann Fund and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in this shared goal.