Artist Statement

Zully Mejía (b.1997, Piura, Peru) creates artworks that engage with the themes of immigration, womanhood and being a person of colour. She explores these concepts both through autobiographical works reflecting on her own lived experiences, and portraiture that enables others to reclaim their narratives. Mejía’s work aims to challenge identity stereotypes, evoke a sense of recognition and encourage empathy.

Mejía gives careful deliberation to determine which medium and visual language are best suited to the conceptual ambitions of each work. Her self-portraiture serves as a means to assimilate, structure and integrate experiences. These works are psychologically charged and provide the artist consolation through the process of expression and visualisation. Mejía also creates portraits of the people around her — often friends, family or acquaintances — utilising body language and colour to convey confidence and joy. She approaches these portraits with an ethos of care and collaboration. In a society that frequently emphasises narratives of trauma and pain for people of the global majority, these works reaffirm conditions of empowerment and happiness. 

In other works, Mejía employs abstraction and incorporates objects and unconventional materials, which function metonymically to represent individual experiences and wider societal conditions. The addition of objects in these works allows for the development of direct, tangible connections to people, places and histories. 

Mejía's work is rooted in a commitment to expanding representations of identity and challenging dominant discriminatory narratives. Through portraiture, abstraction and the use of everyday materials, she examines how visual storytelling can honour personal histories and create change.