Artist Statement
Lepidopterophobia: Phobia of Moths and Butterflies.
The idea of this project emerged from my last experience, which involved a massive change in my life, such as leaving a lovely comfortable life, a prosperous and stable professional career, and moving away from my family and friends to follow a dream: to be an illustrator.
Although I initially wanted to focus on the most undesirable feeling through this process, “fear,” and how important accepting it is, I went further. From a phobia of butterflies that has companioned me since I was a child and has evolved to be respectful enough to let me live with it, I challenged myself and made butterflies part of this series.
This project is a tridimensional visual essay to embrace emotions experienced in the process of change or “Hero’s Journey.” I used the phases of the butterfly cycle to depict different stages’ emotions. To make them less frightening for me, I chose to reimagine them into fantastical creatures, painting them with a limited colour scheme but squeezing as many colour variations as possible. I added the patterns that my variety of brushes allowed me and drew on to some other visual resources, such as trypophobia, to emphasize “fear” or “discomfort” in one of the phases. I was deeply inspired by Mexican folk art called “Alebrijes,” part of my culture.
Butterflies in Space
In parallel with Lepidopterophobia: Phobia of Moths and Butterflies project, this series shows illustrations of the children’s book I am working on, titled “Butterflies in Space.” The story is about an imaginary world in which two close friends, Oliver and Airy, start a space trip adventure finding unknown surprises that could be good or not. Oliver, the main character, deals with discomfort and uncertainty, reminding himself that It’s okay to be afraid.