Artist Bryan El Castillo deconstructs and reconstructs layers of photographs and paintings to create emotionally charged portraits and compositions using a minimalist chromatic range. The artist focuses on the mystique of the individual and the pursuit for a sense of self in a narcissist society.
His ongoing series of paintings contemplates the effect of television and film on the viewer's psyche. The constant influx of media images can influence the perception of one's own character and goals, as shown through Bryan's self-portraits that re-interpret famous paintings or individuals, such as the Judith III or Marilyn and Me, or emphasize a meditative existence within the daily flux of information.
In El Castillo’s view, we exist nowadays in a world shaped from cultural associations and reconciled opinions. One can recognize film images, observe newspaper titles, or identify a familiar face; however, rather than creating an exit toward reality, these representations lead to another entrance back into the system that spawned them. In the artist’s own words, the paintings are frames from the stream of conscious and unconscious thoughts which influence cognition.
