Francisca Vergara

My artwork is energetic and experimental. It explores the use of color using different textures and styles. I use collage and de collage interchangeably. In a rhythmic pattern. The layers I use in my paintings mirror the expressions of my everyday life. Built on an identity that is ever evolving and changing.

I aim to break free from the constraints of a pre-existing identity or structure in favor of an open, less defined self.

Through the deliberate dismantling of structures, I create an environment that is both disrupted and fertile for new ideas and colors to emerge. I paint because I have to. And the only authenticity is what I put together, based on my desire for them to be together.

Los Angeles-based artist Francisca Vergara was born in the USA with ethnic origin from Chile. Her vibrant, colorful painting mostly incorporates collage. Her medium is paper and paint to create layers of texture. Francisca likes to defy traditional norms in painting and create a new understanding of life and beauty with color.

In 2010, Francisca left her job at St. John’s Hospital for a journey of self-discovery after a difficult time with her career in mental health, having graduated with a Masters in Social Work from Boston University. After getting an apartment in Santiago, Chile, and a university job as an adjunct professor, she came across an art store, and the owner came out to greet her. He invited her in to take a class, though Francisca had never taken up a paintbrush before. The experience was surreal and life changing. She ended up painting with the instructor in her private studio for about a year. She returned to California with a renewed vision for a future filled with art. When Francisca returned to work in mental health full-time, She stayed up late, took days off work, and went on artist retreats. In 2018, she had her first group art show in Venice, Italy, with It’s Liquid Art Space, along with various other shows in New York, and the greater Los Angeles area.

In 2020, when the pandemic hit, she quit her work as a Mental Health Therapist for a Sexual Assault and Rape Center in Compton. She now paints fulltime and has work on display at ArtLounge Collective