Fatima Ronquillo, 1976 | Magic realism painter

Fatima Ronquillo is a self-taught painter who combines old master techniques with a playful modern sensibility to create a world where art history meets with imagined characters from literature, theatre and opera.

Biography

Born in Pampanga, Philippines, Fatima Ronquillo emigrated as a child to the United States in 1987 where her family settled in San Antonio, Texas.

She began exhibiting her work from the age of fifteen and is now widely collected in the United States and internationally.

Her work has appeared in numerous art publications including American Arts Quarterly, Southwest Art and American Art Collector as well as in the fashion magazines The Cut / New York Magazine,Vogue Gioiello, Marie Claire and A Magazine Curated By Alessandro Michele. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Statement

- I am fascinated by the complex nature of love, at once a source of pleasure and pain. There is the ecstasy felt by the chosen beloved or ardent admirer. Love’s fleeting nature however, also highlights the despairs of the forsaken, unnoticed and forgotten lovers, often symbolized by physically visible wounds.

The surreal aspect of an isolated lover's eye attracts me tremendously - the idea of physical dismemberment which is symbolic of a removal or estrangement of a loved one, not unlike the reliquaries of saints in old devotional images.

It reminds me of the mexican 'milagros' - little charms of different body parts used to aid in praying for the healing of broken arms or hearts, or even eyes.

Compositionally speaking, the framed ornamental eye gives context and a reason for a floating third or fourth eye in a painting. It is a device of conceit: a portrait within a portrait. Love tokens such as cupid’s arrow, the billet doux or the lover’s eye are symbolic of the figure represented and the absent figure - the object/source of affection/heartbreak.

Fatima Ronquillo è una pittrice autodidatta che combina le tecniche antiche con una sensibilità moderna giocosa per creare un mondo in cui la storia dell'arte incontra personaggi immaginari della letteratura, del teatro e dell'opera.

Fatima Ronquillo è un'artista Filippina, nata a Pampanga.

Emigrata insieme alla sua famiglia nel 1987, si stabilisce in San Antonio, Texas e si avvicina alla pittura da autodidatta, fondendo le tecniche antiche e le ispirazioni dei grandi maestri del passato per dar vita alle sue visioni contemporanee.

Ha iniziato a esporre il suo lavoro dall'età di quindici anni e ora è ampiamente raccolto negli Stati Uniti ed all'estero.

Il suo lavoro è apparso in numerose pubblicazioni d'arte tra cui American Arts Quarterly, Southwest Art e American Art Collector, nonché sulle riviste di moda The Cut / New York Magazine, Vogue Gioiello, Marie Claire e A Magazine Curated By Alessandro Michele. Vive e lavora a Santa Fe, New Mexico.