Fatima Ronquillo

Fatima Ronquillo (b. 1976, Philippines) is a self-taught painter who combines old master techniques with a playful, modern sensibility to create a world where art history meets with imagined characters from literature, theatre and opera. Between her paintings and prints is a shared visual language with the repetition of certain iconography, such as a life-like pendant of a human eye, pearls and various animals.

Ronquillo emigrated as a child to San Antonio, Texas. Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including American Arts (Quarterly, Southwest Art), American Art Collector, The Cut/New York Magazine, Vogue Gioiello, and Marie Claire. Ronquillo has recently exhibited with Meyer Gallery (Santa Fe/Park City), Wally Workman Gallery (Austin) and Dorothy Circus Gallery (Rome). The artist lives and works in Santa Fe.

Artist Statement

Human emotions are as universal as the ideals of beauty. The need to love and be loved is strongest of all. It is a theme which has preoccupied writers and artists since the beginning of culture. I return to it repeatedly, recalling characters from literature or opera. My invented portraits are nearly all solitary and often are of children. They are haunted by a solitude experienced by those who find themselves strangers in a strange land, simultaneously longing to escape and connect.