Anna Zorina Gallery is pleased to announce Relatos de Origen/Origin Stories, Alonsa Guevara’s fourth solo exhibition with the Gallery. The show features the artist’s latest series of paintings centered on exploring new beginnings and the various kinds of origin stories. These narratives include birth, but also the important moments and milestones that profoundly shape our identities, ones that often result in a sense of rebirth. Guevara’s paintings connect these personal accounts with archetypal tales that have resonated throughout humanity for millennia in order to tap into the collective unconscious, revealing the shared emotions that connect us all to our origins.
Guevara’s artistic journey began in the Ecuadorian jungle where she spent her formative years developing a profound respect for nature and learning the magical legends that warned of the jungle’s dangers. The artist incorporates the country’s native flora into her imagery to honor her upbringing while also recognizing her Chilean heritage through representing vegetation such as Chile’s national flower, Copihue (Chilean Bellflower); and national tree, Araucaria Araucana (Chilean Monkey Puzzle). To continue the commemoration of new beginnings upon her life path, Guevara integrates natural elements representative of the other countries that she has called “home” including the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
Guevara’s compositions feature a vibrant blend of elements from nature interlaced with ethereal, human-like figures to portray a deep connection between humanity, nature, and spirituality. Her artistic process begins with unique monotype prints, in which spontaneous brushstrokes on a wet surface are pressed onto canvas. Shapes and objects emerge organically from within the unexpected interactions of paint. With a Magical Realist style, Guevara delves into themes of miraculous birth; family union and the promise of new beginnings; desire and sexuality; growth; resilience and transformation; death; rebirth and the continuity of the cycle of life. This series invites viewers on a journey through the wide array of "Origin Stories” with each painting serving as a portal that reveals how our shared experiences inform our identities and unite us in the richness of life.
ALONSA GUEVARA (b. 1986, Rancagua, Chile) lives and works in California. She received her BFA from Catholic University of Chile in Santiago and MFA from New York Academy of Art in New York City. The artist has exhibited widely in international shows including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Forth Works Art, Fort Worth, Texas and Cheng Xi Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China. Awards and residencies include the Tashkeel Residency in Dubai, U.A.E; Eric Fischl ’66 Artist-in-Residence Teaching Program at West Nottingham Academy; the Terra Foundation Residency in Giverny, France; the Michele and Timothy Barakett Scholarship; as well as the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant.