About Erika Alonso

Erika Alonso (b. 1987) is a second-generation Cuban-American artist working and living in Houston, Texas. Alonso grew up in Southern California, a place in which her artistic spirit frequently "escapes" to the landscapes of childhood, serving as the backdrop to many of her paintings.

As a self-taught artist, Alonso embraces a painterly approach, a celebration of the materials that make up the meaning of her paintings. The artist’s work captures fleeting moments—the movement, rush, and whirl of them—and the myriad stories that happen in any given moment across the landscape. Alonso’s artwork lies at the crossroads of abstraction, figuration, and landscape, oftentimes materializing as "narrative landscapes” where the artists’ expanding visual language of symbols and creatures dance upon abstracted terrains.

Mark-making forms the foundation of my artistic language—a symphony of colors, lyrical lines, and motifs. In this imaginary world of mine, one can find a watchful eye in the sky, window escape hatches, reflection pools, cascading flowers, birds, snakes, and an array of creatures. Each element contributes to the whole as I explore the translation of racing thoughts, recalled memories, and shifting emotional states into a visual narrative.

Working primarily in acrylic and watercolor, my method, while not restrictive, begins with gestural mark-making. Figures emerge through layers, an unmasking process that embodies both presence and structured wonder. Influenced by internal states and external occurrences, I work with an urgency, chasing glimpses of figures within the materials. The indeterminateness of my paintings requires one to imagine—to engage with the work on their own terms and to form personal conclusions about what they see.

Erika Alonso

Houston, Texas

Statement