María Jesús Contreras reveals the healing impulse behind her surreal and retro art
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- 05 Apr 2023
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Chilean artist María Jesús Contreras explores the influences behind her distinctive and entrancing artwork, which often focuses on animals and always looks on the bright side.
Magical realism is a literary genre that combines realistic narratives with magical or fantastical elements. It differs from traditional fantasy or science fiction, where the setting is often a completely imaginary world. Instead, magical realism is typically set in the real world, with magical elements appearing alongside the everyday and mundane.
While magical realism has become a global phenomenon, it originated in Latin American literature. And it's been a big influence on the work of Chilean artist María Jesús Contreras, who has worked with clients such as Wetransfer, Universal Music, Elektra Records, Love Watts, We Present, and Domestika.
"My work is inspired by everyday life and how we can make it a little bit magical," she explains. "Since I'm from Latin America, I grew up with magical realism, reading Garcia Marquez, Borges and Cortazar at school. Plus, I'm from the countryside, where many stories centred around something surreal or the idea of animals behaving like humans. In fact, it's hard for me to illustrate a specific thing without thinking of the form of the clouds or some creature moving in the background."
Influenced by both 70s psychedelia and the colourful 90s posters of her youth, María loves working with analogue techniques like risograph printing. Her work is distinctive, retro, surreal and, perhaps most importantly, fun. "Life is super-hard sometimes, and I think illustration can portray a difficult subject without removing the bright side," she explains.
Sense of loss
That said, both happy and sad themes are reflected in her work. "Sometimes I draw, for example, the spirit of a pet and use of plenty of saturated colours," she says. "But it still makes you feel nostalgic because the feeling of loss – of a love one, of childhood, of magic – is still living in our memories." Read More…
