George Saavedra is a Cuban American artist born and raised in the greater metropolitan area of Miami, Florida. He earned his BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL in 2006. Saavedra’s figurative paintings go beyond their surface appeal, they are a mixture of classical painting that is disrupted by trenchant sprays of expressionist mark making. They are psychological profiles which draw the viewer into a private space of emotional complexity mingled with desire and sensuality. They are scenes occupied by internal and external struggles that also vie for resolve and coherence. Moving into a more personal space, Saavedra’s recent work dives into the Cuban-American experience, employing old family photographs as source material. A sense of atmospheric nostalgia tint these canvases, which possess an underlying anxiety that belies their calm facade. The artist depicts histories that are implicitly familiar, yet harks to an inescapable past that isn’t yet fully contended with. Saavedra has exhibited predominantly in Los Angeles, most recently at The New Puppy Gallery, C.A.V.E. Gallery and Think Space Gallery. He works and lives between Los Angeles and Miami, and occupies a studio in the Hialeah Arts District.