Statement

Fruit baskets still life, vandalized vases filled with flower-like creatures, and personified exotic birds are among my subject matter. I employ an exaggerated “Caribbean color palette” to comment on external allusions of how Caribbean paintings “should” look like. This happens over a thick ground layer that along iconographic graffiti elements reference decay and time passing. Objects, animals, and fruits are presented in a transition state, either appearing or disappearing. The animals show a contemplative gaze while smoking or drinking.

Through my paintings and drawings I convert everyday objects and situations into representations of uncertainty, loss, stress, self-medication and displacement. They reflect both the internalization and externalizing of personal life experiences.

www.zawahra-alejandro.com/#/nel-figueroa/