穿著華麗，充滿珠光寶氣的氣勢吸引了眾人的目光，女皇駕臨，凌駕一切，世人膜拜瞻仰，整個宇宙為她而開啟，從而掌握了生命。Reydel ESPINOSA 2020年的作品「The Queen女皇」在21世紀的當代社會，將我們的想像拋在現實之外，重探天地伊始。
2022年所創作的「Salsa Dancers騷莎舞者」反映了在疫情期間對於過往愉悅生活的想望，這裡可以看到藝術家將自己成長經驗裡的色彩、造型、音樂融合在一個看似合理卻又充滿詭異的情境，在狂歡之際，又必須面對隨時可能加諸的意外。這當然也是在此空間極度被隔絕的期間，他透過回憶童年所繪製創作的代表作，更反應出時代的變異。
Dressed in a glamorous, bejeweled style that captures everyone’s attention, the Queen arrives, towering over all. The world worships and admires her, and the entire universe lays open for her, giving her control over life. Espinosa's 2020 artwork, The Queen, takes audiences from 21st century contemporary society, and thrusts our imaginations outside of the realm of reality to revisit the beginning of the heavens and the earth.
Unlike the male-dominated world, this is the world of heaven and earth, where all the holy spirits are equal, there are no moral shackles, and even the strange and bizarre are taken for granted. Everything is alive, no distinction is made between man and beast, all beings are different but at ease. The universe creates its own order, full of fluctuation and balance. We are always filled with the suspicion of extreme unfamiliarity—from the place where the artist comes from to the non-existent world he creates, what exactly does he want to express? In the world of art, Espinosa’s paintings impact our overly rational and necessary skepticism.
Reydel ESPINOSA從小在古巴東部鄉下長大，因此孩童時期大自然的體驗對他的創作影響深遠。牛，是Reydel ESPINOSA孩提時期，經常遊走在鄉村景色裡出現的動物。對他而言，牠代表著力量。這幅以兩隻跳著騷莎舞的母牛為主要意象的超現實藝術創作，便是受到他童年回憶加上古巴文化的啟發。
Reydel ESPINOSA特別在這幅畫中呈現許多孩子般的俏皮、天真無邪以及無所限制的想像力。創作過程中，容許自己回到兒童般的初心，以好玩的心情，賦予他腦海中奇幻生物最大的自由。 比如，其中一隻母牛抱怨著因為一隻正在吸奶的小猩猩，讓她沒辦法好好跳舞比賽，而被裁判扣分變成九分。在左上方有一隻猩猩正拿著玫瑰要獻給牠愛上的猴子，卻不知道它是被奇幻物種操弄的玩偶而已。玩偶旁邊有一個異種生物詩人，手拿著一本有幼稚塗鴉的詩集。造成一種成熟與幼稚的反差。而右上方有一群動物和不同的生物們玩著大人們小時候都會玩的跳繩遊戲。這些調皮的或是有趣的小故事都是讓Reydel ESPINOSA自己、也讓觀畫者重溫孩童時的肆無忌憚和已被遺忘的好玩態度。因此，他刻意讓整幅畫充滿慶典般的豐富色彩和活潑的氛圍，甚至帶有孩子氣的幽默感。最終，如同古巴女歌手Celia Cruz 所唱“La vida es un carnaval”，“生命如同一場嘉年華”。
The artist grew up in the countryside of Eastern Cuba. He wandered around in the rural fields a lot and often saw cows. He was inspired by the combination of his youth memories and the Cuban culture to paint the central imagery of two cows dancing salsa. For him, it is an animal representing strength.
In this painting, the artist deliberately manifests unrestricted imaginations with characteristics of childishness and innocence as if he were back in his childhood embracing his inborn freedom, being driven by the pure thought of doing something fun. For example, one of the dancing cows is complaining that the little orangutan who is sucking her milk makes her dance badly and lose a point from 10 to 9. On the upper left side, an orangutan falls in love with a monkey, not knowing it is just a marionette manipulated by a group of unknown creatures. Right beside the marionette sits an animal poet who holds a poem with a childish doodle. This creates an ironic contrast between maturity and infancy. Meanwhile, a mixed group of animals and unknown creatures are playing rope jumping on the other side. All these interesting or naughty anecdotes are intended to remind the viewers, including the artist himself, of the fearless and fun-driven life attitudes as kids. Therefore, a festive ambiance and vivid mood with a sense of childish humor can be felt in this painting. After all, as the Cuban singer, Celia Cruz sang “La Vida es un Carnaval” (Life is a Carnival).
這幅畫在闡述伊娃以她原始的本質回到現代的今日，重新獲得她的位置。雖然會喚起人們對她過去所代表的身份，但是這次她並沒有帶著禁果回來而是帶著以兩柱龍捲風為代表的能量回來。她感受到自己有能力扛起任何角色。這代表著現代女性在社會上崛起之姿，如同畫中的龍捲風能量、多才多藝、帶著閃電。無論到哪裡，這股不斷變化的能量會跟隨著她，代表她有能力面對生命中的各種課題、隨著變化而適應。這些轉變往往是很多變、無法預期的，直到一抹微笑將周圍的環境都美化並且照亮了。
This painting depicts Eva returning to her primitive essence to take her modern role. It reminds the viewer of her prominence in the past. This time she doesn’t return with the prohibited fruit but with the energy of two tornados and flashes of lightning, bringing metamorphosis wherever she goes. It represents women in our society emerging with the strength of transforming and coping with all kinds of life situations. She is multi-talented and capable of taking on whichever role. The capricious transformation happens many times until a smile adds beauty and illuminates the surroundings.
正當一個超現實角色聚精會神的作畫時，一個吻神奇地從畫布中耀出。忽然間，他明白了愛是一切也是唯一重要的事。藝術家下意識的表達了他自己和創作之間、與他和自己生活之間的關係。也就是説，當一個人全心全意熱愛他所做的事或是保持他與別人關係的熱情時，我們最終會被回報以愛。
While a surrealist creature is painting, a kiss comes out of his artwork magically. All of a sudden, he realizes that love is all there is and the only thing that truly matters. Somehow, the artist is reflecting himself subconsciously in this painting, about his relationship to his artwork as well as to his personal life. When we are passionate about what we do or our relationships to people, we receive love in return.
藝術家身為古巴人、也喜歡抽雪茄。但是以古巴的經濟狀況，能偶爾抽上一支雪茄是很奢侈的。所以，他連結了「抽雪茄」是一件生活中的小確幸、代表快樂與滿足。畫中的「煙斗」已經是以超現實、充滿想像力的方式來表現。他在畫中經常想勾勒出他想像的「不存在」宇宙住著一群有智慧、有自己文明的動物和物種。如同人類享受生活一般。也有七情六慾、嗜好、思想等的高智商物種。而這幅畫所呈現的就是這個宇宙的生活一角與片段。像是電影定格的一個畫面。看不見不等於不存在。所以特別把把「不存在」框起來，表示一般人看不見。就是對藝術家來說，他所具象化的世界就是「存在」他內心宇宙的世界。從他把牠們畫出來、視覺化後，牠們的世界就「見光」了。
As a Cuban, the artist also likes to smoke cigars. However, smoking cigars is only an occasional luxury for ordinary Cubans. Therefore, he represents the satisfaction of smoking cigars as a simple happiness and a small blessing in life. The pipe in the painting has been depicted in a surreal and imaginative way. The artist often wants to outline the "non-existent" universe he imagines, inhabited by a group of intelligent animals and species with their own civilization. Just like humans enjoying life, there are also highly intelligent species with emotions, pastimes, thoughts, etc. This painting presents a small moment of lifestyle in this universe. Invisibility does not mean non-existence. For the artist, the world he visualizes is the world that exists in his inner universe. Once he paints them out, this invisible world is brought to light.
這是一隻藝術家豐富想像力下催生的青蛙女皇，用魔法棒對牠用放大鏡觀察到的萬物施加魔法的場景。此時此刻，青蛙女王在觀察即將被另一隻超現實的鳥類生物吞噬的魚類的DNA。雖然這只發生在想像的世界中，藝術家以青蛙女王作為這個奇妙事件的主角，從而證實了這個可能性的宇宙。
This is a scene where a frog queen is born of the artist's rich imagination. The queen is using a magic wand to cast magic on everything she observes with a magnifying glass. At this very moment, the queen is observing the DNA of a fish who is about to be devoured by another surreal bird creature. Although this only happens in an imaginary world, the artist features the frog queen as the protagonist and the evidence of the existence of this possible universe.
這幅作品是在新冠肺炎疫情期間、以生存為主題所創作。因此有一個人物吸允母奶和其他動物進食的意象來代表生存的課題。在這非常時期，最基本的需求就是食物和援助。比如，畫中有一隻猴子試圖拯救另一隻溺水的猴子，也是反映出生存的議題。許多其他型態轉變中的動物代表藝術家生活周遭所發生的一切變化，人們如何因著疫情在適應與改變生活。而一場景猴子下棋，隱喻生命如同一場比賽，一動一卒都是為了獲得活下去所必需的資源。作品反應出許多藝術家創作時、對全世界人類正在經歷的一切透由淺意識來詮釋。而這詮釋又像是一場夢，但，是如此真實的一場夢發生在現實裡。
The award-winning Spanish 2022 Honorable Mentions for the Contemporary Expressions Award/has been collected by a German collector. This artwork was created during the COVID-19 pandemic with survival as its main theme. Therefore, there is an image of a character sucking on mother's milk and other animals eating, symbolizing the theme of survival. During this extraordinary time, the most basic needs are food and assistance. For example, in the painting, there is a monkey attempting to rescue another monkey drowning, reflecting the issue of survival. Many other animals undergoing transformations represent the changes happening in the artist's life and how people are adapting and altering their lives due to the pandemic. In one scene, monkeys playing chess metaphorically depict life as a competition, where each move is aimed at securing the necessary resources for survival. The artwork reflects how many artists interpret everything that the global population is going through during the creation process, drawing from their subconscious. This interpretation is like a dream, but it is a dream that is so real, happening within reality.
