Zully Mejía

ABOUT

In her self-portrait A Safe Place to Cry, Mejía creates an outlet for herself within a period of grieving and positions nature as a place where feelings can exist without guilt. Painted over the course of nine months, the work carries the weight of mourning. It is a deeply intimate portrait in which the artist makes direct eye contact with the viewer while holding tears, conveying the vulnerability that is present in both the process of healing as well as the experience of creating art. Rendering her own skin a muted grey, Mejía employs colour theory to capture the impact of grief. In this work, the colour represents numbness, exhaustion and alienation, as well as malleability and groundedness through its similarity to clay. She depicts herself surrounded by Peruvian lilies, referencing her heritage as well as the sense of refuge she finds in nature. The title of the work echoes this sentiment and acts as an ode to the people in her life who make her feel held and safe.

Written by Grace Marquett for the exhibition Soil at Firepit Art Gallery in London, 2026.

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