Description
48 x 48 x 2.5 inches
Acrylic and mixed media on deep-edge stretched canvas | Real bullet shells | Unframed | Finished edges | Ready to hang
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Honorables Asesinos (“Honorable Murderers”) is a companion piece to Child Soldier, part of the ongoing series The Gardens of Impunity — a body of work that confronts violence with beauty, truth, and resistance.
In this painting, five towering human-like figures stand side by side, anonymous and imposing, with elongated legs that lift them above the rest — a metaphor for unchecked power and moral detachment. Their torsos are adorned with red bowties, each pierced with a flower crafted from real bullet shells. The juxtaposition is deliberate: elegance masking brutality.
This work was created in response to the endemic corruption and state-sponsored violence in many Latin American countries, especially the artist’s native Colombia. The “honorable” exterior of politicians and elites conceals the hands of those complicit in murder, displacement, and impunity. These are not protectors of the people — they are decorated executioners.
Paint drips, ghostly textures, and a stark white background evoke a sense of erasure, as though the truth has been scrubbed away. Yet the figures remain, haunting and unapologetic. The bullets-as-flowers motif, seen throughout the artist’s work, symbolizes the ongoing resistance to forgetting — and the audacity to imagine justice blooming from violence.
Mood: Stark, accusatory, symbolic, unmasking
Main Colors: Bone white, raw umber, charcoal, muted crimson
Inspiration: A visual indictment of political violence and the culture of impunity that enables it. Honorables Asesinos is not just a painting — it is a confrontation, an unveiling, and a demand for accountability.
