Ytaelena Lopez is a poet and artist who currently lives in San Francisco, CA, although she is originally from Venezuela. Lopez prefers to work in mixed media. Her work has been exhibited in Miami (85@85: 3rd annual International Juried Exhibition 2008- 2009 at MiArte Gallery), Los Angeles (Seyhoun Gallery), New York (Lana Santorelli Gallery), and Chile (Galería Locarno in Talca, 2008). She has also exhibited her work in several venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

You can see more of the artist’s work at http://ytaelena.com.

Contact ytaelena@gmail.com for more information.

Click ‘read more’ to see the artist’s statement.

About my artwork

I love to paint the part of ourselves that is hard to look at but is still beautiful and true. In other words, people’ emotions; what they feel, dream, fear.

My work uses science as metaphor for our emotions about the inner chaos of our world. I aim to reflect the isolation of those who may be ignored or shy but still want to be seen (eg the one-eye creatures). I think that part of ourselves is hard to look at but it is still beautiful and true.

My work is feminine, but not necessary glamorous. It is something raw, mischieveous but kind… sardonic laughter and a bit of smeared lipstick. Through that glass I explore topics like biology, science, ecology and social landscaping of consumption symbols, violence and prejudices. The use of pornography and car crashes in the Accidental Erotica series evokes both a visceral response and emotional dissonance.

I try to humanize abstract topics to allow the public to become more involved with his environment and themselves, using their imagination. For example, in Amphibaena I used a human spine to build a fantastic creature that represents a wide array of human emotions.

That is the direction I want to take for this project. I want to push the boundaries of the perception of our own bodies and their influence in our social relations and our own emotions and fears. Forget that I am using anatomy models, X-rays and even cancer cells as reference. So much of our lives are governed by science, but we seldom regard the beauty and humor that can be found in the symbols of science.

-Ytaelena Lopez