Cristina Lopez Casas

Masters of Visual Arts. Figurative fantasy portraits.
Melancholic but with a lively presence. Based on my own experience as a woman, twice an immigrant, artist that started at 48, mother of 2 sons and grandmother of 4.
I offer a great range of images, from the sweetest to the misterious, from energetic to peaceful, always concious of the complexity of life. I like to be surrounded by them, they give me a sense of belonging.
Most of my ideas come from doodling and drawing small sketch notebooks. I use glazing, as in the flemish techninque, to build color layer by layer letting the characters develop their own mood and story. I work with transparent layers because it allows color to have depth.
My latest painting are done without blues, loosely and colorfully using the Zorn palette. Since blues have always been related to the religious world, this absence reflects better my intention to remain free of old beliefs that have oppressed women for centuries.

I studied Graphic Design in Chile in the 80s. It was a school of architecture and design and the teachers were artists that followed the Bauhaus principles adapted to the Chilean environment. The abstract agenda was not my cup of tea.

In Mexico City I studied for a Masters Degree in Visual Arts on Painting. The subject of my thesis was "Arte fantástico de México 1960-2012". Where fantasy is understood in the literary sense, as a structure to confront the known with the unknown. A shorter version of my thesis was published in Revista Brumal from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona in 2016. In that paper I presented the idea that fantasy is still very much present in the production of art in Mexico, as opposed to what it was said back in the 60s when an historian, Dra Ida Rodriguez Prampolini, determined that the legacy of José Guadalupe Posada was over, after Mexican painters adopted the surrealistic trend. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fantasy is as alive as ever and it is here to remind us that art is not only about realism.

Solo Exhibitions:
2026: “El jardín de las miradas transparentes”, Casa de la Cultura Oaxaqueña (Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico)

Group Exhibitions
2026: Group Exhibition, Casa Dual (Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico)
2024–2025: Colectiva oaxaqueña, Tinglado Gráfico (Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico)
2018–2022: Colectiva oaxaqueña, Galería Saúl Castro (Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico)
2014: Artist of the Month, Galería José María Velasco (Colonia Peralvillo, CDMX, Mexico)

Awards and Recognitions
2014: Honorable Mention, Catálogo de Ilustradores de la FILIJ
2013: Selected Artist, Bienal de Artes Plásticas "Pérez Romo", Universidad de Aguascalientes

Publications2013: Article on Mexican Fantastic Art published in “Brumal” journal, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona

Professional Summary & Biography
1990–2003: Relocated to the USA, worked at a design firm, and raised two children.
2003–Present: Relocated to Mexico and began career as a painter.
2011: Granted Mexican citizenship through naturalization.