When artist Alejandro M. Lopez saw his home and those of thousands of others in California engulfed in flames in January 2025, he was overwhelmed with horror and fear. He also felt an adrenaline rush ¡ª and an urge to act.
¡°It was absolutely overwhelmingly traumatizing. And the only way I could try to do (anything) was to paint,¡± Lopez said during a talk last week at , a gallery in Tokyo¡¯s Shibuya Ward that¡¯s showing his paintings of the wildfire that erupted in Los Angeles County¡¯s Eaton Canyon.
The fire devastated multiple communities, hitting Altadena, where he lived, especially hard. Fueled by gusts of up to 145 kph and drought conditions, the flames raged for three weeks, killing 19 people, destroying more than 9,000 homes and displacing tens of thousands.
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