One of our favorite shows we have seen in recent months was the solo show that Puerto Rican painter Larissa De Jesús Negrón had at Nicodim in Los Angeles. As we read on her website, "Larissa was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Throughout twenty years, she lived in several municipalities such as Guaynabo, Trujillo Alto and Caguas. Her commitment to art making began as early as nine years old, where she excelled in the drawing classes her mother signed her up for. Larissa went on to study middle school and high school at Central High, the most well regarded specialized art school in Puerto Rico. Graduating with the highest honor the school has to offer, Larissa continued her education at The School of Plastic Arts in Old San Juan where she began majoring in Drawing and Painting. After two years, she transferred to at 19 to Hunter College in NYC where she got her BFA degree with high honors."
Larissa is a multidisciplinary artist who is interested in processing her childhood and adult trauma through the essential power of storytelling. Her practice is centered around authentic expression and deep introspection. In her recent work, finding presence through the artmaking process has been a top priority. Exploring and experimenting with materials keeps her interested, not only in what she’s creating but it brings her focus to the how, rather than the why.. This therapeutic and meditative approach allows the artist to discover new ways to talk about old issues, this is what keeps her coming back to the studio. Her stylistically varied but mostly neo-surreal imagery is linked to the artist’s curiosity of the subconscious mind and psychoanalysis. Hence the subtle referencing of surrealist artists such as Magritte, David Salle, Louise Bourgeois, Dalí.
