Shadow bearers

My name is Daniela García Isea. I was born in Quito in 1996, but I grew up in Madrid from the age of five. In 2021, I moved to Amsterdam, where I currently live and where I have given true space to my artistic side—something that has been an intrinsic part of me for as long as I can remember.nnMy artistic practice centers around digital collage—a medium through which I reinterpret and reinvent photographs by layering textures, colors, and hand-drawn lines. Using Procreate on my tablet, I manually intervene in these images, drawing directly onto them with expressive lines, patterns, and details that breathe new life into frozen moments. Each piece is an attempt to bridge eras: connecting the past with the present and opening a visual conversation with the future.nnPhotography and drawing are my two great passions, and they intertwine seamlessly in my work. I have always felt that both are ways of freezing moments in time, of stopping the clock, if only for an instant. They are tools for returning to the past, for time-traveling through images, and for reconstructing narratives from a visual and emotional perspective.nnAlthough I often work with old or archival photographs, I also use more contemporary images—especially when they are in black and white. The absence of color helps evoke the same sense of nostalgia, allowing the modern to feel timeless and emotionally resonant. My aim is to reframe these images through a lens that connects different eras and invites new interpretations.nnI am particularly drawn to anonymous portraits and everyday scenes that carry an aura of mystery. These images speak to me not only as historical documents but as emotional landscapes—fragments of lives that once existed and still echo in subtle, powerful ways. Through my process, I seek to amplify those echoes: to highlight the gesture of a hand, the detail of a garment, the expression of a face. Color and line become tools to awaken what lies dormant in the image and reinterpret it with contemporary meaning.nnWhile the female presence appears often in my work, it is not always the central focus. I am particularly interested in how identity—especially historically marginalized identities—survive and transform across generations. Sometimes I incorporate my own face or image into the collages as a way of exploring how personal memory intertwines with collective history. In this sense, my work is both intimate and universal.nnMy work has been part of group exhibitions in various spaces in Amsterdam, including MEININGER Hotel Amsterdam City West, Bartheo, Tillatec, and What is Happening Here Gallery. I am always seeking new opportunities to share my work and to open dialogues about memory, identity, and the power of visual storytelling.nnUltimately, I strive to give new voice to these photographs—whether old or modern—a voice that feels more alive, more current, and perhaps more honest. I invite the viewer to pause and ask themselves: Who were these people? What did they dream of? And what part of them still lives in us today?

Forma Nova Digital Exhibition (Budapest, Vienna, New York)

Digital illustration made with Procreate by hand

22 x 29,7 cm (8.3 x 11.7 In)