We are dust and shadows

We are condemned to be forgotten.

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Memories fade, faces erode, time elapses, and our existence quickly evaporates. The fascination and anguish born from this truth have been nurturing Restrepo’s body of work since 2015. Her charcoal on paper drawings attempt to capture the essence of diverse individuals in a particular fragment of time. Restrepo refers to the charcoal as a dark dust and, paradoxically, aims to prolong the existence or presence of those depicted, at least, on the surface of her paper.

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By contemplating these artworks, you will be confronted to a spectrum of fears, traumas, denials, and constant questioning. Nevertheless, even if death is a certainty, through her drawings she celebrates life, memories and the immeasurable beauty of what is ephemeral.

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Graduated with honours of Visual Arts from York University and The University of Ottawa, Restrepo embraces the technical qualities of realism and traditional portraiture without limiting her own vision. An absent background as well as the strong presence of the line are some of her most distinctive artistic elements.