Athena's luminous and captivating portrait paintings offer revealing insights into the true faces of South America, exploring how ingenious culture and global diversity has influenced present day people.

Through interviews and portraits of many nationalities, along her journey, Athena culminates her own captivating visual interpretation, uniting contemporary people with their native indigenous history.

Expect contemporary faces in traditional realism contrasted with bursting modern colours of native print using thick impasto paint and weave. Enter a world where the past meets the present, and we see how South American history has been sewn.

 

Insights into this specific artwork:

 

Javier Ortiz Gopar

Nickname: Aguila (Eagle)

Zapotec (Indigenous) and Spanish heritage

Dad: Spanish but born in Mexico City

Mum: Zapotec

Lives in Oaxaca

“Because of my Zapotec heritage, it makes me feel

root to this land.

I feel more connected and proud to be part of that

culture.”

 

I digitally printed a zapotec print of fishes and wove it through the portrait's skin.

I thought this was relevant as he lives and works on a remote beach called 

Zipolite in Oaxaca. I like how the old cultural prints and technology have crossed over in this piece. For me, it references how without contemporaries today telling these native stories, history would be forgotten, however they will always re-create in a way that is more relevant now.