Artist in Residence

There was something about Pescadero. Patricia Larsen was longing for a break from Vancouver’s rains, so she left to spend the winter in Oaxaca-testing the waters to see if she was ready for a move to Southern Mexico. But when she travelled through the remote and rugged Baja village of Pescadero on the way to visit a friend, "it was instant recognition-it had all the things I liked," says the painter and sculptor, whose work is shown all over the world. "It was close to the water, it had a great openness so I could see the sky wide with stars at night, and it had all the colours I love: browns, ochre, earthy reds and grey." She knew she’d found the spot to build a more permanent home.

In Oaxaca she’d forged a friendship with local architect Julio Gomez, who drafted the plans for Larsen’s new retreat. The home is divided into two separate adobe buildings-a small kitchen on one side, a larger living space on the other-joined by a raised patio. Black-framed doors and windows add a graphic industrial edge, giving structure to the view and creating a visual continuity between the two spaces. The strong, somewhat masculine forms are deftly imbued with Larsen’s gentle personal touch by a selection of delicate textures and objects that adorn the home throughout.

The main living space is airy and atmospheric, with a freestanding central fireplace strategically placed to provide an element of privacy for a sleeping nook. In the bathroom, a marble shower is enclosed and accessed from the outside, tucked underneath a green stone staircase that leads up to the rooftop terrace. The gesso walls remain raw, rough; the concrete floor, while polished to a soft gloss, still holds remnants of little footprints and natural inclusions, not unlike Larsen’s own textural paintings.

Larsen loves to collect found objects: broken bits of bramble live among antiques, and a rusty bench frame found at the roadside is now a cherished prop in the living room, its skeletal frame draped with a muslin remnant. The dusty palette of white and ecru seen in the gauzy linens in the living room and bedroom is repeated in the kitchen, which features organic vessels created by her daughter, Janaki. The kitchen structure is a simple space, as meal preparations are unfettered to the indoors. (Solar power generates electricity for just a few hours a day, and water is limited.) A tomato and avocado salad is spiked with fresh basil that grows in nearby fields; the catch of the day is prepped over an outdoor firepit-
and dinner takes place on her sun-soaked terrace.

When asked if she gets lonely here, Larsen answers, peacefully, no. She has come to work, to paint, to breathe in the air of this locale and to settle in to a way of life that will leave her mortgage-free. With her gentle, down-to-earth attitude, she fits in with the people of this area and has developed strong friendships. But, mostly, she is content surrounded by nature and the lyrical beauty she has created around her.