Pedacitos | Monica Fernandez | Painting

'Pedacitos' (Small Pieces) is a new artwork by Mexican artist Mónica Fernández. This impressive large scale oil on canvas belongs to Mónica's most recent body of work, 'Manifest for Reconstruction' that the artist started in 2020 during and in response to the lockdown.

"The works I present here are part of "Manifiesto a la Reconstrucción", a series that I began during the first lockdown when we were isolating at home as my husband and son had both tested positive for Covid-19.

I put together a series of prints that I had made in the past and broke them into pieces to reconstruct a new artwork, one that alludes to the process of creation of a new being as it recovers from the wounds that life inflicts. Through the inspiration of scraps of paper began to paint, a process of reconstruction and transformation, while, at the same time, I had to take care of my family during lockdown.

Manifesto to Reconstruction is a very personal series where I pay tribute to the Japanese practice of Kintsugi that is based on repairing fractures in a way that makes the scars beautiful."

The nature of representation in Mónica's works has been described as an entrapment in the captivating image of beauty, as in the classical notion of attraction.

Mónica has been painting for over 20 years. Self-taught from an early age, she later enrolled in formal studies at the Lorenzo de Medici Academy in Florence, Italy. Upon her return to Mexico, she studied fine art at the Instituto Allende de Bellas Artes, where she perfected a variety of techniques and creative methods.

Ever since, Mónica has devoted herself to painting and her work has been showcased at home and abroad in a growing number of solo and group exhibitions including at International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy; Museo de Arte Sinaloa, Culiacan, Mexico; Museo Arocena, Torreón, Coah, Mexico; UNAM San Antonio, Texas, USA; Museo Regional del Bosque, Torreón, Coah, Mexico.