THE ARTIST

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. Ansel Adams "Despite their cheerful imaginary, Victoria Restrepo’s digital prints also reveal an undercurrent of cultural nostalgia. Heir to five generations of photographers, it is not surprise that Restrepo’s experimentation – mixing painting, photography and digital images, results in a technique of seamless perfection. The only disruptions here are intended and emotionally generated. Looking at her windows, Restrepo looks out on a flawlessly-inserted Colombian landscapes, her internal geography. The still lifes are painted in Maryland, yet some of the flowers come from the tropical forests of Colombia." Susana Torruella Leval Director Emerita, El Museo del Barrio, New York

BIO

Victoria Restrepo was born in Colombia, where she grew up surrounded by her grandfather and great grandfather’s photographs. They were some of the earliest photographers in South America and the Caribbean. The smell of the photographic chemicals, and the magical darkness of her family lab, marked her life forever.
She studied fine art in her Country, and photography at The New England School of Photography, in Boston. She has worked as a Commercial Photographer and as a photography teacher. A few years ago she moved to the Washington DC area, where is actually working on her new series of imaginary still lifes and landscapes, mixing photography, painting, and digital art.

ART STATEMENT My current work mixes photography, painting and digital art. As a photographer I worked in my darkroom for years manipulating films, chemicals, and papers, and using new digital techniques to break through the accurate and "realistic" representation of reality given to us by traditional photography. At the same time, with my paintings, I was trying to get as close to the real world, as I could. Mixing both medias has given me an opportunity to explore a new world where fantasy and reality meet each other. My photographs are poised between reality and illusion, and through them I face the same challenges that artists have been facing for centuries: how to get a perfect balance between color and transparency, light and shadow, texture and delicacy, and also how to express a profound desire to attract and deceive the viewer.

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