O Escobar, Baltimore, Maryland
Member Since June 2018
Artist Statement I am an abstract expressionist painter. My signature style of painting is an intricate layered impasto affect with acrylic paint on canvas. I am the gallery owner of Escobar Art Gallery. I was born, and raised, in Brooklyn, New York. I live in Baltimore, Maryland, with my wonderful family, including our dog Billy.
I always painted in my mind. I was on a school trip to the Museum of Modern Art and they were hosting an exhibition of Jackson Pollacks paintings and I was enthralled. I wanted to paint like him. Growing up, there were no extra money for paint or canvas. I grew up with the mantra everyone works, you need a solid established career and ‘to make something of myself.’ And I did. Then my abeuelita passed away. I took solace by signing up for an art skills class at the Albright Know museum, and there it was Convergence, 1952, by Jackson Pollock. It was everything.
I gave myself permission to spend money on canvas and paint and brushes – which was a huge move because I did not know what I was going to paint, I just needed to paint. It was an act of self-determination. I was not going to be afraid of color and expression. I didn’t think about whether my paintings were good or if they would sell. I shut down the expectations, and just painted. I expressed what was in my mind and my soul.
The main theme in my work is to use color as the only tool for expression. My paintings are a wide range of abstract and figurative imagery that convey emotional conversations of a woman. The paintings are experiences, reactions to a moment, and expressions of my conscious mind.
Sometimes, I am:
- thinking of the expectations of the many roles I play, and I paint brushstrokes that flow and are constant, where the colors blend to share my thoughts, and I create flowing abstract paintings.
- reacting to the pressures of my existence, as a woman, and the impositions levied upon me and I paint bold brushstrokes where the colors converge and radiate emotion with contradiction in texture. I create exuberantly painted imagery, emotionally charged vibrant abstract paintings that evoke and attack.
- just capturing femininity in a moment and I paint brushstrokes where the colors blend for a surrealistic approach. So, I will intellectually and emotionally paint lustful images of the female body, nudes, and angels.
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