Transitions by Diego Andrade
Diego Andrade is an artist from Mexico born in January 1995. According to his biography he at one point wanted to study Forensics to know more and understand his fear of death. However, he held more passion for art and decided to become an illustrator instead of going down this path. At the time of writing this blog, he studies Visual Design and Communication.
His first solo show: Transition was exhibited from October 19th, 2017 to the 2nd of November of the same year. In this show, many of the pieces were inspired from a mixture of “The Tibetan Book of Dead” old engravings, 60’s/70’s psychedelia, and science fiction movies and comics. The Transition series tells the story of a soldier who dies in combat, and it is his story of traversing the path of which he will be reborn.
Here are a few examples from his Transition show.
Llegada is the name of this piece and you can see a subtle outline of the face of a skull in the stars. This one is probably my favourite as it clearly combines science fiction elements. I feel like I can see his influence from old comics, as I feel like he may have been influenced by Dave Gibbons’ art, specifically Watchmen.
This is an excerpt from Transitions Part III which shows a young boy carrying a toy soldier as he innocently finds a dead body. Andrade explains that the soldier was the young boy in a previous life and that the young boy does not realise that it is himself.
From his most recent show: Allegorias on June 2nd, is the piece Naipe Mortem.
With what appears to be an influence from Tarot cards. This is a natural symbol of death. There are still elements of the cosmos that you can see from his earlier pieces and yet Andrade continues to exhibit his research on wider cultures. The wilting sunflowers are an interesting choice of image here, as usually they continue to follow the sun which is no longer present.
As you can see, Andrade specialises in telling stories within his work. All of his exhibitions tie into a wider theme that has its own distinct storyline. Even his stand-alone works tell a distinct tale.
These are just some examples of Andrade’s work, and I would recommend having a closer look at his work. I would suggest following him on Instagram and Facebook in order to keep up to date with his work and shows.
