Coyotes urbanos (2023) Painting by Daniela Cuellar

Daniela Cuéllar Díaz, born in Santiago de Chile in 1968, emigrated to Central America in 1974 and, later, to Mexico, where she lived for more than twenty years. A fundamental part of his childhood takes place in Costa Rica, a country of exuberant geography and landscapes that are the first encounter with an unknown, diverse and primitive world, in which coexistence with insects and animals is daily and permanent. This experience remains indelible -with a certain nostalgia-, and determines his entire artistic development.

The animal world is the theme and the common thread that establishes the bases for his artistic work, in which fantastic and symbolic beings They star in a metaphorical and sometimes playful game, thus forming a pictorial universe that continually seeks to recover a lost order. Over time, it selects animals closest to its immediate and experiential environment: rabbits, insects, lizards, birds, jaguars - among others -, to which it attributes certain traits or psychological characteristics, and transforms them into more conscious and symbolic personifications that Initially, they express specific moods, stories and situations. Shortly after, these are also a vehicle to reflect on the way in which human beings relate to each other and to other organisms.

Much of his work is done with inks and watercolor, and recently he incorporates pigments natural and acrylic paint. The paintings are made mainly with pen and ink to achieve firm and detailed lines. In them, chromatic warmth - the predominant use of earthy and blue tones - merges with a certain schematic sobriety that dispenses with any ornament that could overshadow the central object of the work. Through thin lines he emphasizes the precision of the details and specific features such as eyes, looks, nails and teeth, or body attitudes that acquire human overtones. His relationship with the pictorial space, initially austere, becomes more complex and elaborate, as he builds contrasting compositions and geometric backgrounds in which there are strong reminiscences of Mesoamerican and African textiles.

In recent years he has explored the use of new materials and textile proposals, delving into the development of a ritual and symbolic aesthetic that nests in the primitive, in search of the primal and attracted by the constant concern for the relationship between human beings and their environment. He has exhibited individually and collectively in Mexico, Spain and Chile.

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• Nationality: CHILE
• Date of birth : 1968
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary Chilean Artists