I am a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, a painter, educator, and psychotherapist who was drawn to painting and drawing in my teen years. I obtained a masters degree in fine arts and in art therapy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1988), obtaining additional art training from Helen Oh (traditional oil painting), from Carol Dolan (egg tempera painting), and printmaking (etching) under the guidance of Audrey Niffenegger. My interest in the practical applications of psychoanalysis and art for healing motivated me to obtain a doctoral degree (2009) focusing on the use of art-making as a path to healing.
My work is filled with the surreal and colorful language of Latin America’s culture and folklore. Myths, dreams, and rituals feed my curiosity and informed my imagination unfolding a visual symbolic world.
My mystical and spiritual beliefs woven into my meditation practices has increased my ability to work intuitively within the frame of a nonlinear thinking.
The viewer is challenged to develop a contemplative dialogue with the painting and be absorbed by its colors, images, and light. In that viewing the painting may evoke a feeling, an emotion, and/or a memory.
-Beatriz E Ledesma