Chilean artist Santiago Salvador Ascui’s vibrant creations consist of people, whether rendered as a greater pattern, bunched together in corporate intimacy, or a private moment between two subjects. Rarely are these stylized characters alone. Rather, the painter seems most focused on creating a sense of unity with much of this work.
That unity can be reflected in a dance party or a private moment, each person’s loose pose contributing to the flowing effect of the work. At times, Ascui pulls out a single appendage from the body, like waving, flamboyant arms repeated for a cohesive effect. In these pieces, hundreds of raised hands create something new together.
We can draw a narrative from the artist’s two-person pieces or ones depicting various cultures in an embrace, but as the lens pans out, parallel parades of content faces and bodies seem more aesthetically driven.
Ascui, a graduate of Fine Arts at Finis Terrae University in Santiago, has shown works in galleries across the world, from New York’s Local Project to Barbican Centre in London and Galería Patio Liceo in Argentina. You can follow his in-progress works and more on his Instagram here.
Barcelona based illustrator 
Australian-born, Los Angeles-based painter