Belkis Granada
“I’m not painting an indigenous person when I’m painting those faces, I’m painting a Latin American that allows oneself to be identified as any part of themself that he or she desires. In short, we are what we are – we are our expressions”.
The passion for recovering the indigenous heritage of Venezuela is the leitmotif of Belkis Granada León. Since her days at Universidad de Los Andes, Belkis studied the ancestral roots of Latin America through her art. She researched different ethnic groups in the Southeast region of Venezuela – Guahibos, Piaroas, Yekuanas, Arawacos, Guaraos – delving into the legacy that remains a vital part of the country’s idiosyncrasy. Belkis Granada directs her gaze towards the threshold of cultural fragility, of union between the indigenous and the acquired. Added to her particular interpretation as an artist, her style expresses through naïve art and magic realism. Symbols of the language of these communities, in addition to Catholic iconographies, creates a work of syncretic content.
