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Alejandro Abeledo

Alejandro Abeledo

Alejandro Abeledo is a self-taught, San Antonio-based portrait artist and illustrator that works across graphite, charcoal, paint, and digital mediums to explore the unsung shades of interpersonal connection that make up his own life. He began his portrait practice taking on digital portrait commissions for friends and clients, drawing inspiration from the bonds between his clients and his portrait subjects. His inspiration soon turned inward, and he began a series of charcoal and graphite drawings to examine the nature of his own relationships.

Artist Statement of Work

Tell us about your work (style, approach, philosophy, subject and/or theme):

I began my portrait practice taking on commissions for friends and clients. These works are based in naturalism, capturing subjects in a mostly objective way to invoke the authenticity of the subject alongside their likeness. I use candid and imperfectly lit photos of the subject collected by their loved ones for reference material. There are strong attachments to these images; That care and affection shines through in my conversations with clients and becomes just as much of a subject as the people I’m depicting. As the relationships behind my portrait commissions became more of a focus I began a series of portraits that examines my own emotional bonds through the lens of expressionism. The limitless palettes of digital illustration are eschewed for charcoal, graphite, and paper. Navel Gazing meditates on the stillness found in grief, wherein new healing and growth can be found. My own experiences with renewal have been complicated by a fear of pain that dissuaded me from being authentic to myself and realizing goals. Through Umbral Flash’s opaque layers of charcoal and delicately sculpted flame I embrace that fear and accept it as part of a bigger process that can take me to new places in both life and art.