1988, Lima, Peru
Lives and works in Lima, Peru

One of the main characteristics of Shirley Villavicencio Pizago’s work is her approach to her South American heritage and her life in Belgium. Shirley paints her portraits in an accelerated rhythm. She mainly uses acrylic, which dries fast and allows her to paint spontaneously, rejecting a conventional perspective and using vivid colors, often inspired by other cultures.

By using the pictorial process, she creates an intimate dialogue with her subjects. On a second level, Shirley’s paintings contain a subtle political message. She often makes people with darker skin tones the protagonists of her works, without placing emphasis on the background. This way, she confronts the conventional exoticism found throughout Western art history.