Dark Emotions Evoke Growth in Alejandro Aguliar Canela’s Graphite Drawings
Austin-based artist Alejandro Aguilar Canela creates large-scale graphite and mechanical pencil drawings on paper and vellum that explore psychological states including depression, anger, fear, and abandonment. Working primarily at two to four feet in width, Canela deliberately incorporates unplanned marks and smudges as formal elements, treating accidents as meaningful expressions of his philosophy that negative emotions can catalyze personal transformation. His practice manifests internal states through anthropomorphic figures and distinctive characters. Several works appear in the Critic’s Choice exhibition at Ki Smith Gallery in New York through September 6, 2026, including pieces from his Grey Drawings series and recent compositions such as ‘A Rodent in the House’ and ‘Wet Dog.’ The artist’s approach emphasizes reclamation of ostensibly undesirable aesthetic and emotional territories as generative rather than dismissible.
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