Zuleyka Benitez is a local painter, business owner, and the latest artist to be featured in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL. Her show – titled Narrative Interiors – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Branch where you can catch it through the beginning of January. For Narrative Interiors, Ms. Benitez combined images from existing art works, historical magazines and postcards, and other found objects into gouache paintings highlighted with watercolor and pencil. Reminiscent of stage sets or studio photographs, her paintings feature minute, “seemingly decorative elements” that are intended as clues for adding complexity to a viewing experience that unfolds like the plot of a good book. I recently spoke with Ms. Benitez via email about her European childhood, her painting “Hair Club for Men,” and her experience as an artist in Evanston.
