"Monarch Over Tangipahoa" (2025)

Available for purchase at Cucuronshop.com

WiL Vélez, Monarch Over Tangipahoa, 2025.

acrylic on cradled wood panel

24H x 17.88W x 1.5D in (60.96 x 45.17 x 3.81 cm) 

Monarch Over Tangipahoa is the third completed painting in an ongoing series titled Winged Rivers, a concept that was originally developed in preparation for an exhibition in Covington, Louisiana.

In the initial piece, Queen Over Tchefuncte (2025), I aimed to represent the Tchefuncte River—which runs directly through Covington—in a unique and engaging way to capture the interest of local viewers. In this work, aerial views of the Tangipahoa River have been integrated into the wing structures of Monarch butterflies. The result is an abstract fusion of natural elements, blending geography with the delicate symmetry of native pollinators.

Other works in the series continue this concept, pairing the Monarch with the Tangipahoa River and the Cloudless Sulphur with the Old Pearl River—furthering the poetic connection between Louisiana’s river systems and its native winged life.

This is a unique, original artwork. Its image, like all images on this website, is the copyright of ©️WiL Vélez. All rights reserved.