"....It is with quirky, comical reverence for the afterlife that Salinas artist Patricia Sullivan opened her fourth area show, "Bailando con la Muerte," or "Dancing with the Dead," at Hartnell College.

Her work is a modern take on the traditional papier-mache skeletons that serve as the main motif for Dia de los Muertos, the day on which Mexicans honor deceased loved ones.

Modern indeed. In the exhibit's signature work, "Cinderella calls 911 on Prince Charming," a 35-foot, papier-mache skeleton is wearing one glass slipper and clutching a cell phone. Across the room stands Prince Charming, her 35-foot counterpart, holding a glass slipper. It is a whimisical take on the children's fairy tale, which would be viewed as stalking by contemporary society's yardstick, she said.

Sullivan, who twice earned the Boronda International Study scholarship, has traveled extensively in Spain and Mexico, the latter serving as the inspiration for the exhibit, she said." .....J. Michael Rivera, The Californian

"....Bailando con La Muerta II is an expanded versin of Sullivan's show las year at Hartnell College, in which she exhibited striking papier-mache skeletons and photographs, all sparked by musings on Day of the Dead.

This year, the exhibit contains not only her own artwork, but that of schoolchildren, teens and Hartnell College students and instructors.

....Sullivan, a Hartnell student herself, has done triple duty as curator, artist and materials gatherer. Because she works with children at the Boys & Girls Club of the Salinas Valley and students at Washington Middle School, she has included the papel picado projects that they did - colorful tissue-paper banners that are a traditional part of Dia de los Muertos.

....Sullivan also invited community groups and individuals to provide ofrendas, the altars made to remember the dear departed. Often these will be adorned with something that would please the person - flowers or food are popular choices.

Sullivan said she has invited people from a variety of backgrounds to bring their altars, which will be installed on Monday and Tuesday. Some are "concept altars," not necessarily in memory of a person, but with a statement to make."....Kathryn McKenzie Nichols, Monterey County Herald

"....Perhaps the hallmark of all true art is its attempt to illuminate something not readily apparent about its subject. A portrait tries to capture the soul of the model as much as facial features; a landscape may try to express the feelings created by the scene; Picasso looked at a bull and saw a simple series of lines. So what Patricia Triumpho Sullivan is attempting with her exhibit, "Esse Quam Videri: To Be Rather than To Seem," is not exactly new. But she has taken an intriguing approach.

The exhibit features nine, life-size, ceramic sculptures of human torsos, each topped with a velvet pad on which rests some object which Sullivan feels represents something about the model's inner essence.

"Each of my models had something special they shared with me," says Sullivan. "Some things came out verbally; some, without saying, made themselves obvious."

Sullivan says the concept of using velvet cushions came to her as a result of tryuing to think of ways to emphasize the precious nature of each subject's inner self.

I was thinking of how I would present something that was very special," says Sullivan. "So I decided to use a velvet cushion on top of each of these torsos I made. Each of the inner things that is being shared is very special."

Among others, items displayed on the cushions include a broken ring, a sand dollar, a stone and a piece of driftwood.

According to Sullivan, she hit on the idea of driftwood for that particular model after hearing about that model's life.

"This is a person who has travelled quite a bit and never had a home in any certain place. It seemed to me that he was very strong, maintaining a strong sense of himself - he reminded me of a piece of driftwood that could withstand the ocean."

"It's kind of an inner thing, something you wouldn't see if you just looked at him"

"Esse Quam Videri" is Sullivan's fourth exhibit at Hartnell, dating back to 1986. Her previous exhibits have included both photographs and sculpture.."....Kathryn McKenzie Nichols, Monterey County Herald