Bio
Pilar Lagos (b.1986, Santiago, Chile) is a Honduran visual artist raised between Honduras and Egypt. Some recent group exhibitions include Myths and Legends of the World at Miami International Fine Arts (Miami, FL); Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (Brooklyn, NY); Empathy & Alchemy pop-up show at Living Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), the Atlantic Gallery (New York, NY) and The Hewitt Gallery of Art (New York, NY).
In 2023, Pilar was selected as a mentee at New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Pilar was an artist in residence at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT (March 2024). Pilar is also a co-founder of Immaterial Projects, an artist-run curatorial collective.
She lives and works in Long Island City, NY.
Artist Statement
My work explores the lasting impacts of feeling estranged from culture and body. I paint in response to the inner conversations between alienation and longing. My paintings address women’s reproductive health and the barriers that women face before receiving proper diagnoses. I incorporate expired medications and glass flakes to evoke the raw emotions of pain. When I am not thinking about health, trauma, and its consequences in my life, I paint my cat, Cleo. These paintings are playful and depict the impossibility of a rendered image.
My printmaking practice consists primarily of collagraphs and monotypes. I build collagraph plates from medicine blister packs, string and acrylic mediums. These plates are not built to be archival; instead, I want to draw a parallel to the wear and tear that our bodies go through as we age. Through printmaking, I explore themes of social masking as a coping mechanism for individuals living with chronic illnesses.