EILEN ITZEL MENA

Raised in the Dominican Republic and the South Bronx, Eilen Itzel Mena is an interdisciplinary artist living in Los Angeles. She is currently creating painting, drawing and sculptural works. Mena’s work is based on spiritual frameworks the African-Diaspora as well as nature, sex, gender and mental health. Itzel often paints visually stimulating works with expressive mark making in order to represent the internal and external conflict housed inside the bodies and heads of the characters in my work. Her works are often spontaneous in nature. Itzel’s use of bright colors allude to sacred colors in Ifa, a religion and system of divination traditional to the Yoruba people practiced throughout the African Diaspora. The vibrancy of Itzel’s work and use of cinder blocks to mount her paintings allude to her early childhood years in the Dominican Republic and my mother's architectural practice. She also uses cinder blocks to underscore the additive structure of my family and community building. 

Eilen Itzel Mena obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from the University of Southern California in 2017. She participated in her first artist residency, LSI Residency organized by the UCL Slade School of Fine Art and the Camden Art Centre in London the summer of 2018. Mena has shown abroad and in various group shows across Los Angeles including recent spring and summer group shows with Superposition Gallery. She is currently an artist in residence at Zeal's Los Angeles Studio, until March 2020. Zeal is a multimedia artist group for Black Artists. She was also the curator for Zeal's Miami exhibition Who Owns Black Art? showcasing works from Los Angeles, New York and Miami artists. The exhibition occurred during Art Basel 2019 and was covered by the New York Times.

Señorita Trauma, 2020 (8.5in x 11in)  

Oil Pastels on Black Construction Paper