Brittany Maldonado "Lo Que Busca Enxuentra"

Brittany Maldonado  "Lo Que Busca Enxuentra" 2023

Painting, Paper, Acrylic and Ink on Arches Paper, Framed
Dimensions 30 x 22 in, Framed 31.5 x 24 in
Unique
Signed on verso, Includes certificate of authenticity

Brittany Maldonado is a Bronx born, NYC raised, mixed media artist, muralist and poet. She describes her work as a love letter to the resilience of women. She primarily creates with recycled materials, consisting of discarded paper, magazines, photos, etc. Brittany has showcased her work in solo and group shows in community spaces and galleries all over NYC. She has painted murals in NYC and New Jersey, with her first one being in her homeland, Puerto Rico. She published her first poetry book, Letters to My Stepping Stones, in June of 2018, and released her second book, a chapbook titled Catharsis: 30 Days of Undoing, in September of 2023. The through line in both her visual and written work is that there is beauty to be found in the breakdown.

“My work has always been a love letter to the resilience of women. We are viewed as emotional beings. Expressive. “Dramatic”. Perceived as weak, our tears have meant the absence of strength. I’ve never accepted that as our truth. I know how much power it takes to feel what you’re feeling and let it live in your body. To hold your hurt. I know how much struggle and jagged edges we endure to become soft. There’s so much beauty and vigor in the breakdown. That’s what I aim to capture in every collage that I create. Growing up I didn’t have access to my voice. I had a daily front-row seat to violence. I didn't know it was ok to speak up. As a self-taught artist, creating has been my way of paving space for pain, and capturing moments where I’ve felt small and broken. I often depict women who are crying, but they are holding their heads high. Their stance is strong because their pain has not broken them. I aim to give a voice to women who have felt silenced. That’s the reason I’m such a devout fan of Frida Kahlo. Inspired by how she moved in the world, I’m not afraid to go dark. She never veered away from her pain. Her work was intense, and she used art as a vehicle for healing and coping. No matter how individualized you think your story is, there’s someone, from another part of the world, who will see it and see themselves. That’s why I created in college. So many pieces of paper, from dozens of different bodies, go into creating one image. One is who holds so many. Piece by piece I cut. Piece by piece I glue down. Piece by piece I tell my/your/their story. The second I start work on a new collage I know what the result will look like. It’s usually an image that’s been ruminating in my mind for quite some time. My artistic process is not about the journey of discovery, but rather piecing together a puzzle that already exists. It’s just a matter of placing the right pieces in the perfect places.” - Brittany Maldonado