Mara Faúndez

Mara Faúndez is a visual artist, with degree in Visual Arts from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago.

Raised in the rural town of Paine, in the southern outskirts of Greater Santiago, Mara grew surrounded by the colours and shapes of the natural landscape of Central Chile, which have remained an inspiration to her work. 

Her main interest revolves around creating a narrative from the anecdotal, using elements such as female figures that appear to be different versions of herself. For Mara, the moment of painting is also a moment of personal confrontation. The presence of everyday objects and diegetic text act as second images. 

Through her painting, Mara explores themes of the intimate imaginary, including love and heartbreak, the ephemeral passion of an infatuation, anxieties, and questions regarding identity and sexuality. These topics are a window into her intimacy, though expressed through a fantasy: the artist creates situations driven by a feeling placed into familiar places – those surrounding her or from her history. The saturation of colour and their interaction is also part of her pictorial interests.

Her debut exhibition Ayer y Hoy, presented by Isabel Croxatto Galería in 2023, was met with critical acclaim and earned her access to institutional and private collections in Chile, the United States, Canada, Germany, Türkiye and Australia.

Mara Faúndez lives and works in Santiago.