GABRIELA ESPLÁ
Trees that grow underwater, a fresh and artificial water. How would it be possible for people in Panama not to have problems in the search for identity; if these treeswhich should greet the sun and cover us - found that other destiny?
My research comes from the observation of my cultural and geographical context, the territorial issue in a place that was created for a canal; an excuse to connect to the world, which alienates and divides us. For example, Gatun Lake, a set of mountains that were flooded to feed the two ends of the Panama Canal, a symbol that marks a gap in the land I was born in. The question through my work is, what does it mean to be from a place where everyone comes and goes, how do we recognize ourselves in an artifact territory? how do we propose a life there?
In the depths of Panama souls there is a little pain of uncertainty and abandonment. It is strange. Ships pass by. Projects, waves of people, the promise of a country passes by. Inflating us with illusion and then deflating us with goodbyes. These farewells and the ambivalence they can bring, are warded of by a robust force where the land clings: The Jungle. A stubborn and slow but very powerful abyss, that grows in the midst of systematic disconsolation, and embraces rare species and unique colors.
My work is a response to this constant abandonment, with scenes of an emotional and dense jungle. Generally in Latin America there is disillusionment, corruption and contempt that generate uneasiness and contradictions, I would like to think that this tension is reflected in the work, pointing out what remains, persistent, surrounded by bushes and vapor.
ARTIST STATEMENT
LA LUZ DEL OTRO LADO
LA LUCE ALTROVE
SALVAJE
PAINTING 2022 - 2014
BREVE BIOGRAFÍA
I studied art at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota mentored by Guillermo Cardenas and later by Delcy Morelos. I have exhibited extensively in Panama, Italy and Colombia, in the Mateo Sariel Gallery in Panama, in the exhibition 'Zero Edge' organized by the Today Art Museum, Beijing, China where I worked with curators such as Juan Xu and Sandra Miranda Pattin and two residencies in the Chiasso Perduto space in Florence, Italy among others. I received an honorable mention in the Le Venezie award organized by ACSA and Shengxinyu Art in Treviso and won the Mural500 award to paint a mural on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the founding of the city of Panama. My work is part of different public collections such as the Morgan & Morgan Foundation, the National Bank of Panama, the Banco General de Panama and Global Bank among other private collections. I currently live and work in Panama City.
espla.gabriela@gmail.com
www.gabrielaespla.com
https://www.instagram.com/gabrielaespla/
1. Summer burning - acrylic on canvas 200x110 cm 2024
1A. Gatun Lake & Bayano Wood - acrylic on canvas 122x122 cm each 2024
2. Waterfall - acrylic on canvas 50x130cm 2022
3. Light from the other side - room view, Mateo Sariel Panama 2023
4. Millions of seeds - diptych acrylic on canvas 244x122cm 2022
5. Coronation - acrylic on canvas 122x122cm 2023
6. Paradiso - acrylic on canvas 150x130cm 2023
7. Labyrinth - series of watercolors on paper 56x76 c/u 2023
8. The end is also the beginning - installation 4mt2 2023
9. Luce Altrove - installation 18mt2 Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2023
10. Luce Altrove “Chimera” - drawing on glass (diptych) 80x50cm Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2023
Luce Altrove “eviction” - installation 2mt Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2023
Luce Altrove “Espejismo” - projected watercolor - 100x100cm Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2023
11. Salvaje “The Spell” - mural 10mt2 Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2021
Wild “Interiors” - installation 10mt2 Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2021
Wild “Sacrifice” - sculpture Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2021
Salvaje “La entrega” - mural 18mts Artistic Residency at Chiasso Perduto Florence, Italy 2021
12. Fireflies - acrylic on canvas 140x120cm 2019
13-14-15. Interpretations - acrylic on canvas 150x130cm 2019
16. Red - acrylic on canvas 150x130cm 2023
17. Interpretations - acrylic on canvas 150x130cm 2019
18. The little bird - acrylic on canvas 130x150cm 2022
19. Premonition - acrylic on canvas 80x100cm 2020
20. Quarantine - acrylic on canvas 80x100cm 2020
21. Interpretations - acrylic on canvas 130x150cm 2019
22. Interpretations - acrylic on canvas 130x150cm 2019
23. Heat wave - acrylic on canvas 100x80cm 2024
24 - 26. Moving plant (series) canson paper assemblage sewn 50x50cm 2019
27-29. The Table - stitched canson paper assembly 50x50cm 2019
30. Gutted - painted and stitched fabric assembly 30x40cm 2018.
31. A door in front of the other (diptych) - painted and stitched paper assembly 24 x 20cm 2020
32. Heat wave - wallpaper assembly and stitching 56x76cm 2023
33. Jungle fever - wallpaper assembly and stitching 56x76cm 2023
34-35-36. Aquarium factory - light boxes, oil on glass, 50 x 70 cm 2023
37. Mirror - light boxes, oil on glass, 76x56 cm 2023
38. 117 years - mural 12 m2 Salón Tollota, Bogotá, Colombia 2014
39. 117 years - happening - 12 m2 Salón Tollota, Bogotá, Colombia 2014
40. Wild eviction - 25 m2 Salon Tollota, Bogota, Colombia 2015
41. The tree, the eagle, the naked bodies mural 13.50 m2 Salon Tollota, Bogota, Colombia 2013