Juan Sebastian Restrepo
Fun!
Artist Statement
I’m concerned with the constant outward experiences that shape my perspective about my sense of self. I see my work exemplifying interpersonal relationships as well as self-identity. I try to employ everyday scenes and intimate experiences to navigate the importance that social exchange, need to belong, and relational self may have upon me, among other circumstances. Painting lends itself to help me analyze my self image, along with beliefs that I hold about who I am—physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and in terms of any other aspects that make up who I am.
I’m concerned with the constant outward experiences that shape my perspective about my sense of self. I see my work exemplifying interpersonal relationships as well as self-identity. I try to employ everyday scenes and intimate experiences to navigate the importance that social exchange, need to belong, and relational self may have upon me, among other circumstances. Painting lends itself to help me analyze my self image, along with beliefs that I hold about who I am—physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and in terms of any other aspects that make up who I am.
Juan Sebastian Restrepo (b. 1989) lives and works in Miami, Florida from his studio in the Birds Roads Arts District. He was born in Colombia, Barranquilla but migrated to the United States at an early age. His fuzzy recollection of his country of birth is reconfigured in genre paintings, where memory and fiction collide. He is deeply influenced by Dutch and retablo paintings. But his goal is to represent and present contemporary perspectives of his American identity.
He takes from his experience of being raised in a single parent household, with his mother, the struggle to overcome everyday challenges within a patriarchal society, ruled by aggression and anti-sentimental values. Being raised in a diverse part of the United States allowed him to come to terms with his differences and strengths.
Sebastian has presented his work at New World Gallery, New World School of the Arts, intersections (2023); Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Carlos and Olga Saladrigas Gallery at the Ignatian Center for the Arts, Miami, FL, Outside the Lines (2023); Art Deli- Blue Chips, Club Gallery Miami, Miami, FL (2023); Edwardsville Arts Center, Edwardsville, IL , Hybridity (2018). Also, Sebastian received a Research Grant for Graduate Students from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, IL (2020).
He takes from his experience of being raised in a single parent household, with his mother, the struggle to overcome everyday challenges within a patriarchal society, ruled by aggression and anti-sentimental values. Being raised in a diverse part of the United States allowed him to come to terms with his differences and strengths.
Sebastian has presented his work at New World Gallery, New World School of the Arts, intersections (2023); Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Carlos and Olga Saladrigas Gallery at the Ignatian Center for the Arts, Miami, FL, Outside the Lines (2023); Art Deli- Blue Chips, Club Gallery Miami, Miami, FL (2023); Edwardsville Arts Center, Edwardsville, IL , Hybridity (2018). Also, Sebastian received a Research Grant for Graduate Students from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, IL (2020).
