*Gasp* I already loved these oil paintings so much, and then I saw the photos of the work installed and, yes, my heart skipped a beat… the scale, the beautiful altars on the floor, all of it! And those ‘in studio’ images are breathtaking. This is the most recent work by Puerto Rico-born, New York-based artist Iruka Toro. This show just came down from the walls of LaCa Projects in Charlotte North Carolina, but these are their words about “THE IRUKA ELVIS SPELL”:

Transcendence. Transformation. Surrender. In her third solo exhibition at LaCa Projects, these themes are evident in Iruka Maria Toro’s new body of work, which offers deeply personal insights into her recent name change and the evolution of her work in tandem with a constant exploration of her spiritual identity. Through a system of complex but connected clues into deeply-rooted belief systems, Toro invites viewers inside her world, with references to the tarot, magic, prayer, ritual, femininity, and medicinal practices. As if painting with a technicolor lens, Toro makes visible hidden spiritual dimensions through intense, color-saturated works, intimate and careful dissections of living flora, and juxtapositions revealing a unique and important relationship, echoing her steadfast reverence to the natural environment and its undeniable connection to humankind.

Sigh. Magic.