Isabel Santos presents a collection of new work in Everything Connects Eventually, resisting a single thematic point or genre — at least, visibly. The point of cohesion in this body of work is the artist’s insistence on not being so easily defined. Santos has explored a number of series in her practice so far, with a tendency to pivot from one “style” to another, eluding easy definition. One’s first encounter with her work may be so wildly different from another’s; Santos, as an artist, may occupy different spaces in one’s consciousness.
Santos’ work has historically been intimately tied with her current state, which is perhaps why it may feel like being taken on a journey. Her intent is to capture the inner workings of her mind and current state of being, no matter what image results after the process. As someone who has suffered from a myriad of mental health issues, painting has become both an outlet of expression and a means to expel the energies that build up in her. And so, the works here can be read as a direct reflection of her innermost self, largely dependent on her state of mind at the time.
Her work often includes autobiographical detail, etched in each work either as a large declaration or as a more mysterious clue. Embedded in each piece is a puzzle, a collection of marks and images that may, in the end, only wholly make sense to her. Still, the viewer is invited to try and solve it.
Reluctant to be boxed by genre or type of art, Santos insists on the lack of prescriptive definition for her art. The work in Everything Connects Eventually is a collection of all these courses she has taken, a snapshot of the journey she has been on, both as a human being and as an artist. Experimenting with different processes, Santos seems willed by the direction her brush (or whatever medium or tool) takes her to, freely following the pull, and forgoing systematic inclinations to compartmentalise and define.
Carina Santos
