ÁSPID

When examining nature and the universe, Heisenberg says that instead of seeking and finding objective qualities, “man finds himself.” With a background in graphic design and animation, Andrea Sotelo came to painting through an exploration that would give meaning to the symbols emerging from her unconscious.

The asp, the snake present in her most recent works, is a continuation of Andrea’s research on the female body. An eternal symbol of the collective unconscious, the snake emerges from the depths of the earth, and its skin shedding symbolizes the regenerative energy of life. By incorporating it into her pieces, Andrea challenges the moral duality implicit in the Judeo-Christian myth, replacing it with a more complex and cyclical nature, thus reinforcing the significant connotation of the dark feminine as the realm of possibilities. The snake’s body undulates in its movement, accidentally revealing the foreshortening of a woman with her legs open, while its forked tongue draws a perfect symmetry, resembling a window or portal, alluding to the uterine passage through which life is sown to gestate and then sprout.

Regardless of one’s conception of the universe, the moral social codes of modern civilizations remain grounded in ancient mythology. Just as historians have undertaken the task of proving that myths as facts are false, psychology has identified them as permanent features of the human spirit, serving as a symbolized record of the mind of a species striving to make sense of its existence. From this perspective, our psyche is thus the only means through which we can grasp and give meaning to reality.

“Áspid” is Andrea Sotelo’s first solo exhibition, and it is the result of a profound analysis of her inner world. In an attempt to bring the unconscious to consciousness, Andrea exposes her own mythology, thus showcasing a process of individuation, a reconciliation with her own essence.