Joaquín Casanova, 2026. Self-Portrait in March, Color-pen on paper, 50 × 50 cm, Chile

Joaquín Casanova, 2026. Being replaceable, Color-pen on paper, 35 × 40 cm, Chile

<Self-Portrait in March>, <Being replaceable>

Joaquín Casanova, 2026. Color-pen on paper, Chile

1) Self-Portrait in March: 

I created this piece on a night when I couldn't sleep because of the thoughts swirling in my mind. I captured that feeling in a self-portrait, representing my inability to resolve my problems through a blank space that hovers around my face, robbing me of the ability to scream.

2) Being replaceable: 

This work is a critique of the role of the laborer and the working class within the labor system, where the worker becomes an easily replaceable product and part of a circular mechanism that never stops turning.

My creative process is characterized by the use of simple, traditional materials; this makes the work accessible to the viewer, as it is created using materials that are easily obtained. The subjects are drawn from personal archives and rendered using analog techniques.

Joaquín Casanova 

Joaquín Casanova is a visual artist and visual arts educator based in Chile. His practice centers primarily on drawing and printmaking, exploring the expressive potential of black and white as a language to address memory, the passage of time, and the human experience.

His work stems from observing memories as fragile, shifting constructs, recognizing that every lived experience is transformed by emotion, imagination, and the passage of time. Through compositions that emphasize contrast, texture, and gesture, he seeks to give form to what remains of experiences as the actual events begin to fade.

My work explores memory as a fragile territory in constant flux. Through drawing and printmaking—primarily in black and white—I investigate how experiences endure as fragments shaped by time, emotion, and imagination. I aim to create images that invite reflection on permanence, absence, and the mutable nature of memory.

Artist contact

Instagram @Cretinova 

Instagram Joaquin Casanova