Mexican-born abstract artist Carmen Carpena grew up wanting to be an artist, but living in a country with serious economic opportunities, she was urged to pursue more “serious” work. However, after losing a close family member, she found herself turning to art as a way to express and exorcize her pain. Though it started as a form of self-care, her work caught the eye of a few fellow artists who encouraged her to keep going. Like many artists, Carpena began her art career with realistic paintings, but she soon found that abstract forms gave her more freedom to express herself.

Her work is a compelling mixture of pets and people and architecture, and I find it dynamic and interesting. Carpena’s abstract shapes begin with an interesting process by which she dips glass balls in paint and knocks them around her canvas. She then lets the marks the balls make inform the painting’s subject. I don’t know how much control she exercises over the trajectory of the balls, but the chaos the process creates means her work is always reinventing itself.

You can follow Carmen Carpena on her website and on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.