Mediums Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Monotypes.
Studio Bird Road Arts District
Recent Show
Coral Gables Museum of Arts
Is there a piece that signifies a breakthrough for you?
This Piece "Painting of a Painting and Two Tires" 2022 Oil on linen 38x68" is a synthesis of the work I've been doing for the past two years. After the pandemic hit, I had to work in a mechanic shop and made it my studio and subject matter. After years of working from observations of cars and tools I turned my attention back to my own practice and the elements of painting, i.e. the easel and a half finished canvas can be seen in the work as a protagonist.
Jefreid Lotti | Painting of a Painting and Two Tires, 2022 | 68"x38"in, Oil on linen
Do you have a particular studio ritual that gets you in the headspace to create?
My studio for the past two years has been the mechanic shop where I work full time. After 5:00 PM when the shop closes I have just a few hours to complete something before going home. There is no time to think or wait for inspiration. I just get to work as soon as possible. Usually something interesting good or bad ends up happening.
in the studio photo by Silvio Padilla.jpg 2022 Jefreid Lotti
Is there an artwork you’ve made that surprised you?
Working from observation was not something I usually did for my work but for this piece "Transmission Fluid Pump" 2020 oil on canvas 18x24", which I completed in three hours, I did just that. I just added the right amount of information and paint and I was done. I felt like I had completed what I set out to do which was to capture that moment in time. It may be hard to understand but being there in the heat of the shop after hours during a global pandemic, making paintings of the shop which was considered an essential business, somehow felt like the right thing to do.
Jefreid Lotti "Transmission Fluid Pump" 2020 Oil on canvas 18x24"
Do you have a piece that you made during a rough patch in your life?
Most of the series Essential Work was made during the worst of the 2020 pandemic.
"Last Flight" 2021 Oil on linen 40x40"
Which of your artworks reminds you of your youth or where you’re from?
This Untitled painting on paper is from a series I did about 10 years ago (2011) called Bus, Sweat and Tears. They are about the bus rides I would take as a child in Cuba. Every ride was overcrowded, asphyxiating, and extremely hot. The bus itself was filled with graffiti, foul smells and loud noises. They are a perfect metaphor for how that government treats its people. This is what it was like growing up in Cuba in the 1990s.
Jefreid Lotti Untitled
