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Title: El Liviano Peso del Abandono
Artist: Escalona
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 48 x 36
Style: Surreal Figurative Expressionism
Description:
In El Liviano Peso del Abandono, Escalona tenderly captures the paradox of loss: how abandonment can feel both unbearably heavy and disturbingly light. Set against the surreal backdrop of a circus sky where an elephant tiptoes across a tightrope—a metaphor for impossible balance—the composition centers on a heartbreaking moment of emotional rupture.
A mother, robed in black with fiery hair and a red hibiscus flower pinned to her temple, extends her hand toward a young girl, gently pushing her away with eyes that appear resolute yet detached. Her gesture implies a transfer of responsibility to the red-haired figure ahead—whom she insinuates to be the father—but the ambiguity lingers. The daughter’s tear, crystalline against her pale cheek, speaks of confusion and sorrow, signaling a soul forced to carry the silent burden of abandonment.
Surrounding the trio are somber, puppet-like figures whose faces echo the surreal melancholy of circus performers—witnesses to an exchange marked not by cruelty, but by quiet resignation. In the upper left, ghostlike faces appear in the clouds, perhaps ancestors or memories, hovering as invisible spectators to this generational fracture.
Despite the bright carnival tents and dreamlike colors, the painting pulses with emotional tension. The title, El Liviano Peso del Abandono—The Light Weight of Abandonment—encapsulates the contradiction: how a single moment of letting go can scar deeply, yet be done with almost invisible effort.
Escalona’s piece is not merely about separation—it’s about the longing for presence, the impact of absence, and the fragile line between duty and love.