In 1992 I took a trip to Venezuela. There I saw for the first time the paintings of Ferdinand Bellermnan, a German painter of the 18th century that traveled to Venezuela under the instructions of Von Humboldt. His mission was to depict the flora of the Venezuelan jungles. Many years later, and back in Germany, he started to make paintings based on his recollections and sketches. I found them quite outstanding, although they were a bit idealized.
At the same time, I found a book by map illustrator Cellarius, which made depictions of the people living in America that was both unreal and exaggerated I put these two ideas together and created Hotel America, also making a comment on the massive arrival of tourists in Costa Rica in the last decade (1985-1995). I saw tourism as the second wave of colonialism, 500 years later.
