Belinda Flores-Shinshillas

Being born in a city so eclectic as Mexico City and later moving to New Orleans has greatly influenced and expressed in my Art. My work has been of a contemporary nature using the figure as an important element in the visual narrative. In the past years, I developed a body of work completely abstract as a way to move through a space, all elements become a metaphoric voice, capturing the human nature that is reflected while balancing between intimacy and distance.

Presently, I am working on two projects returning to figurative elements using portraiture. We’re all Alike consists of a series of portraits intended to create a large-scale installation, and Decoding the Purity of an Icon is a series of acrylic-oil female portrait paintings on canvas.

We’re All Alike is a series of charcoal drawings exploring the similitudes we all share as humans. As species, we all share biological and physiological features but, as humans we have sociological and spiritual similitudes that make us the most powerful leading mammal on the planet. Inspired by the tradition of Gold Glass Roman Medallions portraying noted persons such as kings, queens and the wealthy, this series takes the simplicity of the work itself presenting the traditional bust of the individual over a black background allowing the power of his/her personality to emerge. We’re All Alike takes this tradition to a contemporary display of common men and women through the most basic, intimate and important medium in Visual Arts. Labels of race, gender, sexual orientation and social status don't interfere within this body of work. The similarities all people share are the foundation of this art installation.

The Webster's dictionary defines purity as “being free from or unmixed with any other matter”. Decoding the Purity of an Icon is a series of acrylic-oil female portrait paintings on canvas thought to convey the message of recording an individual’s appearance and personality, using the tradition of Iconography for veneration of purity and spirituality beyond the representation of the feminine subject. Furthermore, these works will be approached in a contemporary manner employing realism and abstraction at the same time, making these portraits much more than pure representation. Portraiture is a very old art form dating back at least 5,000 years and used to document the existence of someone. I believe that it represents more than just a record. It should always be used to show the power, importance, virtue, strength, beauty, and contemporaneity of the individual portrayed, in this case women, as Icons of the purity of their own existence.
My drawings and paintings are an extension of my identity and culture, using color and form (or the absent of it) as an idea, an attitude and an interpretation that questions the permanence of the world surrounding me.

I seek a spiritual transformation through the use of different mediums, for a visual experience. This approach conveys a wide range of sensations and emotions that transport the observer from total excitement to an apparent serenity.




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