Elaborate, imaginary worlds open up around the youthful characters in José Luis Ceña’s oil paintings. Brushy, splattered, and sometimes fuzzy around the edges, his protagonists don homemade costumes and traipse through forts made from sheets and boxes.
“I believe that addressing the topic of children more deeply in my paintings came about as a result of having my two children,” the artist tells Colossal. “Living with children makes you realize issues you thought were forgotten.”