Meet the Artist
About Me
My name is Matías Larzábal. I am a visual artist born in Uruguay and raised in a community-run orphanage. I am also the happy and proud father of two amazing teens and two incredible step-children. Both my extended and blended families have been instrumental in my creative process.
Art is a medium for storytelling. I use my hands as tools to paint stories on canvas. My worldview is shaped by my Latin American identity, and is deeply rooted in magical realism. My body of work is extensive. My paintings are thought provoking, spark interesting conversations, and breathe life into spaces they adorn, including galleries, homes, offices and cafés across the world.
I currently live and create in Toronto (Canada). Larzabal Art is a partnership and collaboration between myself and my daughter Ayla who is also an artist.
My Journey
My childhood was spent in a community orphanage operated by my parents. This place was home to my sisters and I. We spent our formative years with thirty “siblings”, living as a pack. Together we explored, played, created and ran free. This uninhibited, wondrous, and supportive childhood is something you rarely see nowadays. My years cocconed in this collective environment helped define my identity and nurtured my vision.
For me, art has been a way to connect with my soul. It is also an escape from the here and now; a door to the magical and carefree world of my childhood. Every time I pick up a brush and paint, I become an alchemist. I create magic using colors, strokes, shapes, forms and lines. I let my vivid imagination roam without restraint, manifesting spaces where we can all feel safe and free. I believe everything and anything is possible on the canvas. It is the place where my spirit roams unfiltered and unrestricted, and my dreams become reality.
My Vision
I draw inspiration from the places and the people I encounter in my life journey. I hope to expose the inner beauty found in every moment and space I inhabit. I tend to look at my surroundings through a kaleidoscope and I use my perspective as a viewfinder. My work has a layered feel and some of my paintings can be viewed through 3-D glasses to experience the colours and shapes engaging in unexpected and magical ways.
I am artist who loves to collaborate and involve others in the creative process, whether as quiet inspiration or active participant. This approach is reflected in the finished piece, where the ideas and images conspiring in my imagination come alive in a unique and surprising fashion.
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