Shirley Villavicencio Pizango's ceramic and painting works stand out because of their fluid, casual style and bright colours. She creates intriguing portraits of family members, friends and herself in seemingly paradisiacal settings. The white uncoloured lips of her characters represent ‘the inability to speak’ as a migrant when you have not yet mastered the language – something she experienced first-hand. It is her way of paying tribute to her Peruvian heritage and giving a voice to a group of people all too often forgotten in art history.
