Larissa De Jesús Negrón: Eso Pasa

Eso Pasa, the title of Larissa De Jesús Negrón’s first solo exhibition with Nicodim, refers to a fleeting feeling—the phrase roughly translates to English as “that happens.” Also used to refer to moments in life that are temporary, mundane, and everyday, the words encourage a mentality of impermanence similar to the idiom “this too shall pass.” Though eso pasa can be translated many ways and used in myriad circumstances, for De Jesús Negrón, the words are a reminder to stay present. As she produced this body of work, the phrase became a mantra: a meditation on healing through remaining grounded in each passing moment in her studio.
 

The intimacy of domestic, interior spaces unites each piece in this body of work. By elevating the seemingly prosaic elements of daily existence, De Jesús Negrón takes a personal journey into the present. Slowing down is a healing process that reminds the artist to take a deeper look at her surroundings, encouraging her to think less, and instead explore her other sensorial experiences. In so doing, De Jesús Negrón employs a new painting strategy composed of quick, short brush strokes to suggest the speed with which she often moves through the world. These marks blur viewers’ perception of the pieces, and her subjects turn into mere glimpses in time.

In ¿Cuándo seré suficiente? (When will I be enough?), these brushstrokes double as wood grain on a windowsill that frames a faintly visible human form, distorted underneath water and panes of broken glass. Here, a body floats amongst relics of everyday life—money, rings, scraps of food, a women’s razor—all representing the performative expectations of success and femininity that the subject must contend with. A distressed face comes into focus inside this portal, questioning, as the title suggests, the physical and emotional ways these expectations consume her daily life. The figure, trapped though she is within the frame, stands in for the artist herself, who so frequently feels consumed by thoughts of the past and desires for the future.

Las bellas no sufren (Pretty ones don’t suffer) is the artist’s first experimentation with textile. In this case, De Jesús Negrón paints a blemished, strained face on a round polyester rug, using her now-recognizable spray paint technique. This reference to domesticity physically centers viewers in the exhibition, marking the importance of one’s interior life. Returning to notions of the home was integral to the process of creating these works. In looking to the minutiae of her physical space, the artist uncovered new ways to deepen her relationship to her practice, privileging deliberate introspection over unchecked momentum. The universality of the themes underpinning Eso Pasa is a cohering force in the exhibition. De Jesús Negrón’s investigations into temporality and the preoccupation with forward motion tells a story not unique to the artist’s experience, but nevertheless grounded by her characteristic style that blends a dream-like whimsy with more sinister implications.