Imagen Silenciosa 1970

Lilia Carrillo's 'Imagen Silenciosa' presents us with a profound meditation on form and memory through oil paint. The fragmented portrait, emerging from a sepia-toned background, evokes the haunting visage of a bygone era, a silent witness rendered in ochre and umber. Here, the motif of the obscured face resonates with art historical echoes of classical busts and funereal effigies, yet it transforms, becoming a vessel of inner turmoil, as it resurfaces in modern art. The obscured face, a gesture towards concealment, reminds us of the psychological weight carried by cultural symbols. Just as a mask conceals and reveals, this technique expresses the tension between public identity and private emotion. Carrillo's layering of paint mirrors the accumulation of memories, where the past continuously informs the present. The 'Imagen Silenciosa' becomes a mirror reflecting our own submerged selves. It serves as a powerful symbol of the cyclical nature of history, reminding us that the motifs of the past are perpetually reborn in the present.