What happens when we encounter something that tries to challenge the univocality of the reality that surrounds us? What if the imagery doesn’t conform to a single, clear symbol or signifier? What if it evokes multiple ideas at once, competing for our attention? What does that process of recognition, and the thoughts it triggers, reveal about us? Always Subjected is Salazar’s response to these questions- it is a series of works exploring the central role of subjectivity and its inescapable influence on how we see, interpret, and engage with the world.

Untitled, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
25 x 30 cm

Thorn / Mistrust, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
25 x 30 cm

Rooted in Salazar’s early experiences in advertising design, the series explores the tension between the reductive clarity demanded by commercial imagery and the boundless, subjective potential of visual art. Rejecting the rigidity of advertising’s conventions, Salazar’s practice embraces contradiction, ambiguity, and the deeply personal. Their paintings invite a reflective engagement, challenging established ways of seeing and revealing the harmonies that emerge from opposing forces.

Punishment, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
15 x 20 cm

Dominion, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
45 x 60 cm

In Punishment, for instance, the surface suggests a geological terrain- moon craters, colliding mountain ranges, or stormy waves. Yet, from a distance, an image emerges: an eye. This eye, a universal symbol of perception, becomes a focal point, embodying how we navigate and interpret the world. Through its shifting presence, the work oscillates between the abstract and the representational, mirroring the interplay of proximity and distance in perception itself.

Subjected, 2024 , Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas, 180 x 130 cm

Untitled, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
60 x 80 cm

Hydrogen, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
60 x 80 cm

A key inspiration for this body of work is The Coming Carnival, an essay by Ketamin Chic that explores identity, subjectivity, and liberation through fragmented yet evocative prose. The essay’s refusal to provide resolution or comfort resonated deeply with Salazar, inspiring them to translate their conceptual provocations into visual form. Drawing on the essay’s imagery, Salazar create a carnival-like space in which systems of domination dissolve, and images exist in an unbound, liberated state. Through layered compositions, their paintings mirror the essay’s embrace of multiplicity and its challenge to conventional structures of meaning.

In Subjected, the interplay of fragmented forms- limbs, heads, frames- hints at familiarity but resists complete recognition. The tension within the composition emanates through muted, charcoal-softened tones, creating a rhythmic pulse that feels both expansive and introspective. The work oscillates between stillness and vitality, its monumental scale enveloping the viewer in a visceral, almost consuming experience.

Condemnation, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
25 x 30 cm

Untitled, 2024
Acrylic, soft pastel and charcoal on canvas
25 x 30 cm

Always Subjected embodies Salazar’s evolution from the clarity of commercial design to the freedom of subjective visual expression. It is a profound exploration of how ambiguity, contradiction, and personal interpretation shape the ways we perceive and connect with the world around us.

ALWAYS SUBJECTED