"In the 1980s, according to Ruben Cordova, the artist began treating indigenous themes by harkening back to abstraction, but through the canny use of Latino motifs such as striped sarapes, Navajo blanket patterns, and Mimbres pottery. Produced by Southwestern indigenous peoples between the late 10th and early 12th centuries, Mimbres pottery is renowned for its figurative imagery, which sets it apart from the more common geometric patterns used by other tribes of the period. By painting a Mimbres plate as a setting sun in Humanscape 143 (Mimbres Sunset), Casas wryly equates figuration and abstraction.”- Nicholas Frank, “Art With an Accent: Expanded Visions of ‘América’ in Several San Antonio Exhibitions.” San Antonio Report, October 21, 2018.

“The mysterious Mimbres culture, situated primarily in Southwestern New Mexico, produced magnificent ceramics during a short-lived "classic period" that commenced around 1000 AD and ended abruptly in 1130.*** Humanscape 143 (Mimbres Sunset, 1987) is Casas' tribute to these ancient artisans. He took a ceramic and "turned it into a sunset." Shards of pottery are distributed throughout the blue field that surrounds this ceramic sunset. They reference the challenge of reconstructing a vanished culture from pottery shards. The dark blue splatters that surround these shards reference the dripping techniques of Jackson Pollock. Casas has also overlaid the ceramic with streaks of pink, red, and white paint. These suggest fabrics in the loom of time that have blanketed the Mimbres culture with a historical haze.” -Ruben C. Cordova, American History Does Not Begin With the White Man: Indigenous Themes in the Works of Mel Casas