Revelation
Mario Sánchez Nevado explores the intermingling of realities with color, visual and emotional tension. He often focuses on the issues of humans and their internal struggles. The artwork presents a figure—gender rendered nearly irrelevant by the state of transformation—whose physical form appears to be simultaneously shattering and burning. The exterior shell cracks like porcelain or volcanic rock, revealing not emptiness but an inner core of molten, fiery energy.
This piece in particular, “Deliberation,” seems to transform the subject itself into the external explosion that they appear to be internally experiencing. Sanchez utilizes vibrant, contrasting colors typically associated with fire, as well as a dark soot-like explosion protruding from the individual, to produce this physical manifestation of mental strife. Bold, emblazoned reds and oranges stand at odds with the grays and blacks of the despondent figure. These color aspects, the decrepit nature of the dissolving of skin and body, and the recognizably hopeless position of the hands holding the face elicit an almost visceral response of the pain of indecision, as the title suggests.
The young, androgynous, imploding figure embodies the chaotic mental battlefield of making a difficult decision. The bare, almost blank, background illuminates the figure as the focus of the piece, adding to the feeling of desolation and despair. Yet within the fractures, oranges and yellows glow with unmistakable intensity, suggesting that what lies beneath is not weakness but concentrated power. The artwork could be read as a visual representation of what psychologists call “post-traumatic growth”—the phenomenon where some individuals experience positive psychological changes following periods of intense suffering. The fire within the broken form suggests that our most painful experiences don’t merely destroy us; they can reveal our essential nature, our inner light previously encased in protective but limiting shells and that our moments of greatest vulnerability may also be moments of profound revelation.
What do you think of this piece?
Artwork: Mario Sánchez Nevado
I absolutely agree with the metaphysical interpretation– perhaps that’s precisely how this work presents itself as eerily real/vivid, despite the ostentatiously surreal elements. While that inner turmoil is certainly the more universal message of this piece, I’d be keen to explore the political message and social commentary that runs through this as well. As for the connotations of the fire– innate power of the individual– simultaneously embedded, I might want to even stretch that as an implication of the potential human beings have yet to unlock, that lies latent within ourselves regardless of how we abject we may feel at desolate times like these. (:
I love this piece. I have it in my home and now on my arm. I’m obsessed. I have ordered several more of his pieces of art! I love them! He is amazing!
I agree with Jane Keen, comment above. However, the interpretation this picture is how I feel at time as an individual with chronic Lyme disease. I fight physically, but more over emotionally with my disease. I feel like not only I can look at this and it brings out all these feelings emotionally and physically but also my family and friends can see. Furthermore, the white blank space on the picture makes me feel like sometimes I feel a loss and empty minded with how I feel about my disease. I hope this makes sense. This is a remarkable piece by Mario Sanchez and I’m looking into other pieces by him. Thank you Mario for helping me pull all this out of me!
It’s amazing of you to share such a personal take. Not that I’d ever really know, but your description of these profound feelings make sense regardless. Mario Sanchez’s other illustrations (on his Instagram @aegis_illustration & webpage http://aegis-strife.net/ ) have gotten me hooked. So powerful and captivating, and the surreal elements all the more compounded than how much this one lets on..!
I loooooveeeee Mario’s Sanchez Nevado work. And I love Deliverance. Someday I will have this peace of art. Congratulations
from Puerto Rico
I am drawn to the artist rendering of conflict. Decisions to be made each and everyday. What I should do vs What I do. Deliberating in my mind can, cant, will, wont, should, should not. A battle within my mind and soul.
I have a slightly different view of such though in line with the above. I look at from the perspective of a Dom. And I think perhaps it does the best job I’ve ever seen of presenting the best of every strong woman I’ve ever known and the template of what I strive to do in my interpersonal relationships with them. To stoke their fire, to quiet their pain, to hear their struggle, to offer them refuge, to aid in their blossom, to acknowledge their conflict. It’s a visual reminder to bare in mind every tenet of who I wish to be for them and myself.
I first saw this piece of art when I was going through a very difficult time in my life. It spoke volumes to me when I saw it! The times got more difficult and I would always come back to look at it I decided today to buy a rendering and now I can make it part of my life. It will remind me of where I’ve been and how far I have come! Thank God for creativity, it touches each person in a different way but reveals so much about the human experience. I love all
Thank you for this amazing comment. 🙂