What does a portrait look like when it’s not a portrait at all? When it’s stripped of the literal and rebuilt as an abstraction? "Earthling" is my answer to that question—a journey into a realm where figures dissolve into color, shape, and imagination.
62 in. x 50 in. | Acrylic, Pencil, Pastels, and Spray Paint on Canvas | 2022
This painting started as a challenge: what if my portraits were the most obscure, abstract versions of themselves? I began with a single fluid, transparent jewel-tone green—a color that felt like the atmosphere of another planet. Powdered, softened, and spread, it became the sky. Then came the figure: Adrian Jimenez, sketched lightly in pencil from a reference in my archives. But Adrian, as we know him, disappeared quickly, morphing into lines, curves, and blocks of color.
The process unfolded layer by layer:
With pastels, I created rough abstractions that danced across the canvas, as if trying to find their place in the world I was building.
I let the pastel and pencil lines sit and stared at them—really stared. From their movement, new shapes emerged. I followed them with bold paint, tracing their echoes with blocks and tubes.
That large neon green arc? It began as a leg. The sharp pink corner? That was an elbow.
Each piece of Adrian became something else entirely. A vision of what I think an earthling would look like on my planet.
What I love most about "Earthling" is its duality. At its core, it’s personal—a creative exploration that came to life over four months of sitting, staring, and imagining. But for the viewer, it’s a portal. It invites you to lose yourself in its optical illusions, to find your earthling within it, and to imagine the world they might call home.
Where does this take you?
Look closely. What shapes do you see? What world would your earthling inhabit?
“Earthling” is a reflection of how abstract forms can still carry the weight of a portrait—an otherworldly tribute to the human spirit.
Price Upon Request