Leticia Infante - Artist Statement

I am restless, for I overcompensate and over-analyze all that there is. Perhaps it is a curse, perhaps not. Doubt is unsettling; however, it is a necessary tool and guides me closer to the truth. With that said, I crave the truth and sincerity, and I hope to visualize and depict such uncertainty and vulnerability in my work. This eagerness for honesty derives from my love of philosophy and the “self.” In New York City, I have had many spontaneous encounters with strangers; I’ve listened to their secrets, vices, and dreams. I met a physics professor on the train, once, and he revealed his ultimate frustration, “there are so many people who wander the world obliviously and uninterested in why things are the way they are, the laws of nature, and the basics; I want to remove the blindfold.” I, too, want to remove the blindfold, including my own. Honesty maneuvered the conversation into such depths that the conversation became completely abstract. I focus on a character’s psychological growth and journey, and his or her state of being; often, dialogue is unnecessary, in order to reveal certain truths about an individual… truths that words cannot express. Many philosophers such as Nietzsche and Albert Camus have also inspired me to challenge the conformities of life. What is normal? We have been conditioned to believe certain beliefs and are encouraged to be ethical, but what happens when a man’s actions contradict his ethics? Is there any such thing as objective morality, or is that just an oxymoron? I want to provoke question and thought with my work and say as much as I can with imagery, just as many paintings do.

Leticia Infante