Cristina Lopez Casas

I am Chilean and Mexican. I left Chile when I was 28. Married and with two sons. I lived in California for 4 years, in Boston for 6 years, and I moved permanently to Mexico in 2003. After 14 years in Mexico City I moved to the southern state of Oaxaca, a truly special place in this planet, with amazing diversity in nature, languages, gastronomy, archeology, textiles and all sorts of artistic expressions, particularly music and printing. I don't think I will migrate again. It has been difficult for me because it is hard to be away from family and not to have a national identity. However, I know it is the only way I can concentrate and finally make painting the most important thing in my daily activities. El arte es mi país. I studied Graphic Design in Chile in the 80s. I went back to school in 2011 and I studied for a Masters Degree in Visual Arts on Painting. I became a Mexican citizen that same year. The subject of my thesis is "Arte fantástico de México 1960-2012". A shorter version of my thesis was published in Revista Brumal from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona in 2016. I was selected for the bienal "Perez Romo" in Aguascalientes and as an illustrator, to be part of the FILIJ 2014 catalog. I did my first Painting class on Flemish techniques in Taller Tamayo in Oaxaca, 2019. I am currently teaching two sessions a week in a Drink and Paint start-up, hoping to engage women with no art background, in the art of painting.