From the artist: While meditating on the erasure of identity that occurs when embracing European symbols, I created griffins for use in South America. Riffing on the decorative motif that was popular in Medieval Europe, I swapped the lion-eagle chimera with anatomical elements of an Andean condor and a jaguar—animals native to the Americas. The reverse side of the block, which depicts the silhouette of the creature, was carved to embody the spirit of the griffin.