Issis Macias
Is an artist living and working in Madison, Wisconsin.
Macias is a self-taught abstract painter, emerging curator, and daughter of Mexican immigrants whose work explores the emotional spectrum of human experience through vibrant, intuitive abstraction. Born in Los Angeles, California, and based in Madison, Wisconsin, her practice is rooted in intuition, color, memory, and matrilineal resilience.
Macias turned to painting during a transformative period of motherhood and career transition amid the pandemic. Working primarily with acrylic and oil pastel, she draws upon memory, intuition, and shared emotion to create vibrant, layered compositions that invite viewers into a sanctuary of introspection and emotional connection.
She was named the 2025 Latina Artist of the Year and received the 2024 Micaela Salinas Artist Fellowship through Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development. Macias was also a 2023–2025 Bridge Work artist at Arts + Literature Laboratory and a 2023 Forward Art Prize finalist through the Women Artists Forward Fund. Her work includes public art commissions for the Madison Public Market and LunART Festival, and is held in the collections of UW Health as well as private collections throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe.
Beyond her studio practice, Macias is passionate about using art as a tool for connection through teaching, bilingual artist talks, curatorial work, and collaborative projects. She is committed to creating opportunities that support Latine, BIPOC, and other underrepresented artists while fostering meaningful dialogue and community across Wisconsin.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My abstract paintings, unveiling an array of pigments on canvas, embody my sanctuary—a realm of meditative experiences that heal present and ancestral wounds, celebrate the vibrancy of my Mexican heritage, and honor matrilineal resilience.
My artistic approach is raw and intuitive, guided by emotion and the textures of the materials I use. I primarily work with acrylics and oil pastels on canvas to create vibrant, emotive compositions in which color, shape, and line convey visual unity. Through free-form techniques of layering and moving pigments with silicone wedges and my bare hands, I surrender to the canvas and its colors. It is a spiritual process in which my mind quiets, allowing my soul to speak through texture, color, and line. Applying oil pastels fosters a sense of play in my practice as spontaneous markings emerge from a meditative state.
I invite viewers into my colorful contemplative space, where each painting becomes a sanctuary for healing and transformation. Through intuitive abstraction, my work explores the emotional spectrum of the human experience, inspiring viewers to reflect on their own emotions and life journeys. My creative palette is fueled by the colors of Mother Earth, bodies of water, music, travel, and my daughter and muse, Inez.
All photos by Martin Jenich Photography
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