Circe Irasema

As part of the exhibition program The Dilemma of Connecting the Dots, curated by Néstor Jiménez, Proyectos Monclova presents Cosmic Painting by Mexican artist Circe Irasema.

In Cosmic Painting, Irasema explores the impermanence of paint as a material, reflecting on the origins of pigments and their journey through the history of Western art.

Arranged in installation-style groupings, her works combine figurative and abstract paintings created primarily with cosmetics, including eye shadows, lipsticks, and blush. In some pieces, she assembles compressed shadow pads and powdered pigments on tropical wood, drawing connections to the theories and methods of 20th-century modern painting.

The exhibition title, Cosmic Painting, plays on the words “cosmic” and “cosmetic,” referencing the cosmos and beauty—concepts central to both art history and the beauty industry.

Irasema works with makeup palettes, as well as gouache and acrylic, to create paintings and sculptural pieces that question the range of materials and colors used in daily life and popular culture.

Her sculptural works include anatomical models of wooden feet and hands, enhanced with acrylic, gouache, and false nails, exploring connections between craft, painting, and everyday items from the beauty industry. Irasema’s work reflects her fascination with unconventional materials, embracing experimentation with density, color, and application across varied surfaces. Through this, she presents materials in their raw form, prompting reflection on painting beyond traditional themes and techniques.

About Circe Irasema

Circe Irasema (b. 1987, Mexico City) is a visual artist and educator whose work explores the challenges of representation in Western painting, often incorporating local, informal knowledge into her practice. Her work has been shown internationally, including recent exhibitions at Museo de Arte e Historia de Guanajuato (2024); VETA Galería, Madrid (2024); Kresge Gallery, New Jersey (2023); Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City (2023); and Guadalajara90210, Mexico City (2022). She has been selected multiple times for the Salon ACME and was a commissioned artist for the XIV FEMSA Biennial (2020). In 2022, she completed the AIR-Montreux residency in Switzerland.

–Proyectos Monclova