FRANCIS ESTRADA
Born in the Philippines and currently residing in Brooklyn, Francis Estrada is a visual artist and educator. He has a fine arts degree in painting and drawing, and has taught in a variety of studio, classroom, and museum settings to diverse audiences, including programs for adults with disabilities, cultural institutions, and after-school programs. As a museum educator, he enjoys teaching about the amalgamation of art and culture through objects. His artwork focuses on culture, history, and perception.
In my work, I interrogate how visual cues found in historical photographs, mass media, political propaganda, and personal archives influence or inflect social or cultural narratives. By playing with the presentation of allusive (often figural) imagery, I create a space that is uncannily recognizable yet opaque. As figuration is understood to derive meaning from its varying distances from naturally occurring forms, or reality, it holds special meaning in constructing personal and social histories. My objective is to play with the nature of that correspondence.
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My art is a tool through which I confront how our understandings of culture are mediated, and the methods through which history and memory are created and perpetuated. I think of my work as partial narratives for the viewer to activate.
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