Oct 27, 2025
During the pandemic Geraldina Interiano Wise found herself with time on her hands and a backyard full of butterflies.
A lifelong artist who studied as a child with a protégé of Diego Rivera, Wise has an eye for beauty and immense curiosity. The monarchs she watched sparked a sense of awe and wonder that propelled her to learn more. One day she watched a monarch emerge from a chrysalis and dry its wings. It then dropped before walking to a higher place and launching into an “air ballet” to explore the new world it had entered.
“This is a dance of life and death,” she said, referring to the butterfly’s short lifespan. “There’s an analogy to humans: in living we are in the process of winding down. I could see myself in her.”
She wanted to share the experience with others, so she pulled together a team of 17 Latino artists to help.
The result is La Catrina Monarcha, a five-minute performance she debuted in 2024 at the ZoomArt Gala, and on the grounds of the Louvre as a public performance in Paris. The performance recreates the final stage of metamorphosis as the butterfly leaves its chrysalis. It will make its Houston debut at Discovery Green’s Día de los Muertos celebration Sunday, November 2 from 3 – 7 pm. Wise takes the stage at 5:00pm.
The costume, in collaboration with artist and designer Lizbeth Ortiz, is a work of art based on Geraldina’s abstract linocuts inspired by the millions of minute scales that cover the base membrane of the wings, giving it it’s stunning colors, making it aerodynamic, and acting as solar cells to awaken them from their hibernation. Geraldina performs the abridged arc of life to Las Campanas, an original piece of contemporary classical music by Houston composer Alex Moreno Gonzalez. The team also includes artist and flower designer Alma Soto, prop designer and artist Michele Matamoros, and photographer Alex Barber among others who gave time and artistry to the project.
There is a poetic connection between the butterfly and La Catrina – a traditional Mexican figure based on indigenous goddess of death, conceptualized by artist Jose Posada and further popularized by Diego Rivera. La Catrina, depicted as a skeleton with a fancy large hat and flowers at the crown is one of the most recognizable motifs in modern Día de los Muertos celebrations. Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a time to celebrate the lives of those we love who have died, and welcome back their spirits, which are believed to be embodied in the super generation of Monarchs arriving in the mountains of Michoacan around that time.
For Wise the connection between the monarch and La Catrina was culturally evident. After a trek to the mountains to see the butterflies roosting, she confirmed the connection, as historically the monarchs arrived by the billions in the mountains of Mexico on the Day of the Dead. “The swarms used to be so massive they blocked the sun turning day into night”, Wise said. “La Catrina is the mythical cosmology that comes from the Maya. They know that we are accompanied through life and death. La Catrina is the artistic version of that. She represents the spirit of life and death just like the monarch. The genetic code of life is inside the monarch and us.”
Wise had the opportunity to speak with people living nearby the butterfly’s roosting grounds. They consider themselves the “keepers of las Monarcas” and participate in scientific studies by keeping track of data such as arrival date, the number of trees used to roost and estimating the population numbers. Over the years the numbers have dwindled from billions to only 250 million.
Her hope with this performance is to inspire Houstonians to learn more about what they can do to help the monarchs that pass through the city. Planting milkweed and other butterfly-friendly native plants is a great start and Wise will hand out seeds after her performance. Anyone canmake a difference: in the balcony of apartments, in backyards, by driveways at places of work; every plant adds up.
“My premise is that Houston is the kindest and most generous place, but it often only shows up at environmental disasters. I wanted to create an uplifting and emotional call to be a part of making Houston the largest Monarch waystation for the survival and thriving of the Monarchs”.
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