In this piece from the Confessions series, the protagonist plays with the action of taking things and elements out of a suitcase—items that had been compressed for a very long time—and transferring them into a basket after all that time. This is an allegory for the phrase spoken by Queen Elizabeth in episode 6, season 5 of The Crown: "But a sovereign cannot show emotion, so they bury it, and that becomes part of their DNA." The work demonstrates how those bottled-up emotions surface once again, yet remain constrained, as they are now confined within a basket.
Confessions is a series of works inspired by Marcel Duchamp's concept of the box in a valise. Taking the act of unpacking a box as its departure point, these pieces reveal playful, lighthearted details that progressively shift into profound vulnerability as the viewer engages with them.
This artwork masterfully balances the chromatic subtlety of classical illustration with a dense allegorical narrative on emotional repression. The artist employs the anthropomorphic rabbit figure and the act of unpacking the valise to materialize the transition between secrecy and exposed vulnerability. By integrating vintage aesthetics with contemporary metaphors regarding psychological containment, this original surrealist watercolor painting transcends decorative value. It transforms into a sophisticated conversation piece and a strategic investment with high curatorial merit, perfectly suited for collectors focused on modern surrealism and global cultural hybridizations.
Original Surrealist Painting- Serie Confessions, 2026 by Andru Suarez
Serie Confessions, 2026
From the Confessions series
Watercolor on paper
Dimensions: 8.6 H x 6.7 W in.
Signed lower front by the artist
Unframed
Andru Suárez Rojas (b. 1994, Barrancas, La Guajira, Colombia) is a contemporary artist whose work explores the concept of folklore through staged settings and compositions that interrogate identity, transvestism, and time.
Suárez Rojas creates dreamlike, "non-place" environments that evoke the human capacity for preserving histories and memories. His visual language is deeply influenced by the visionary legacy of Surrealist artists Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Frida Kahlo, seamlessly interwoven with the delicate watercolor sensibilities of British illustrator Beatrix Potter.
Literature and everyday scenes serve as foundational pillars for his compositions. Rather than drawing from modern pop culture, the artist's anthropomorphic creatures are rooted in ancient mythologies and folklore:
The Rabbits: While easily mistaken for references to Alice in Wonderland, their presence is intrinsically linked to the concept of transvestism. They find their origin in The Ballad of Mulan, the historic Chinese folk poem detailing a woman who disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the military.
The Cats: These figures evoke the manifestation of the Egyptian goddess Bastet, acting as a bridge between distinct cultural traditions.
By positioning these symbolic animals within Victorian-inspired landscapes, Suárez Rojas engages in a deliberate process of aesthetic globalization and artistic hybridization. Furthermore, native South American animals, such as the capybara, appear sporadically throughout his work, embodying a sense of serene, quiet observation amidst these complex thematic dialogues.
