"Ceremony and nature are also at the heart of Vallejo's installations, particularly A Prayer for the Earth, which brought together so many different components of the artist's vision. In part the theme was the devastation done to the planet, but the work also touches on the healing powers of ceremony and the interaction of the basic elements: earth, water, fire, and air.

"Trees are another aspect of the natural world that have a deep significance for the artist. When she focuses on individual trees, as in Golden Yucca (2006), she gives them the dignity and mystery of portraits. The artist lives in an area surrounded by venerable but endangered oaks, and these have become the basis for a series of "electrified" paintings: the trees appear to glow with an almost otherworldly light.

"That Vallejo is able to channel and draw on so many aspects of her multicultural experience without breaking stride or overloading the viewer is a testament to her strengths as an artist. And her recognition that culture is no longer a matter of one dominant tradition makes her very much part of a mainstream that is constantly looking to expand the borders and boundaries of contemporary art and life."

- Ann Landi, contributing editor of ARTnews and author of the four-volume Schirmer Encyclopedia of Art