About the artist
Artist Statement
Carolina “KAKO” Villarreal is a native El Paso Artist and current student in the UTEP
Department of Art. She is currently a senior in the Studio Arts BFA Program, Majoring in
Painting and Minoring in Metals. Her paintings have been exhibited in multiple venues and
Galleries in and around El Paso including the El Paso Museum of Art, Crossland Gallery and
Casa Ortiz. An avid user of social media, her art also branches out into non-traditional merch.
Her work is an exploration of Emotionalism and the differentiation between reality and the
fluidity of hierarchy that exists within the subject (Painting). She adds her understanding of the
world around her, including her fascination with power and its connection to spirituality. Her
work also addresses hard truths of reality and acceptance. Behind her artistic gaze lies a sense of
emotional hierarchy.
“Emotionalism is an aesthetic and critical theory of art which places emphasis on expressive
qualities. According to this theory, the most important thing about a work of art is the vivid
communication of moods, feelings, and ideas. Emotionalism critics require that a work of art
must get a response from others”.
The core form of emotion exists within the gaze of her subjects. Her psychedelic spiritual
animals and human portraits exist within a plane emphasizing a mood with the use of color and
line in the background. She uses “full spectrum” colors to highlight her art, including prisms of
layered gradients around the eyes or around certain parts of the body emitting auras. Her aim is
to bring the viewer into the frequency of expanded emotion. She calls this form of making
“Psychedelic Emotionalism.”
This idea is current, branching off of "Eyes of the Soul" an earlier collection.
“View with your Soul.” -KAKO
Medium
She uses oils and acrylics.
Inspiration
Kako's creative process derives from her perception and connection to the external world. Derived from her processes of connectivity with animals, nature, and her current reality.