Contemporary oil surrealist painting: Man Looking Southeast Painting

I was born in Zipaquirá (Colombia), the city where the famous salt cathedral is located, and currently reside and work in Bogotá. I pursued contemporary art studies at Javeriana University and studied painting at the National University of Colombia. I had the privilege of being a student in the studio of the late Peruvian painter Armando Villegas. South America serves as the foundation of my work, with its unpredictable skies, mysterious, indomitable, and magical nature, its animals, and the people who traverse its lands. I draw inspiration from the pre-Hispanic artistic tradition and the principles of Constructive Universalism, aiming to create an art form that is deeply rooted in local essence while encompassing a universal scope. As Joaquín Torres García once said, "Our north is the south." My work seeks totality, where the abstract and the representational coexist in harmonious fusion. In my abstract paintings, I explore the relationships and balance between shapes and color blocks, evoking the orthogonal lines of Inca constructions and the intricate fabric of pre-Hispanic cultures. Through the figurative elements in my paintings, I delve into the vulnerability of contemporary human beings in the face of the digital world and the hyperconnectivity of social networks, which often engenders deep feelings of loneliness and emptiness within us. The presence of animals serves as a soothing balm for our existence, reminding us that we are intrinsically connected to them, and as such, we are obligated to treat them with respect, dignity, and love, acknowledging them as sacred creatures to whom we owe our appreciation. As a form of resistance against the rapid pace of the contemporary world, the processes involved in my paintings are deliberately slow. I meticulously transform the matter, layer by layer, until I give life to worlds where colors, textures, and fantastic beings coexist harmoniously.