Sylvia Padilla “Untitled”, acrylic on canvas, 30”H x 15”W, – $200.00

With the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 the sense of self became harder to identify. There was a surreality in a sense and a feeling of the world turned upside down. With new terms as the “new normal” and “essential” we all went from a place of having everyday expectations of living to suddenly not having any grounding on what self was.
I started to study more of my past and my heritage to get a better sense of who I am. At this time my paintings  incorporated Incan and Taino imagery. I also included references  to Pre-CoIumbian textiles and artifacts in my artwork to get a better sense of who I am and where I come from. I am a 1st generation Latina woman with roots in Ecuador and Puerto Rico.
    In this piece I am working with flat imagery on the picture plane. This work is a self portrait  as it describes me using pre-columbian patterns to gain knowledge of my Andean and Taino heritage. In my works I also wish to bring awareness of all those past cultures that were almost entirely destroyed during European conquest.