Artist Statement- Exhibitions 2026

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  Painting is how I make sense of the world—not by explaining it, but by creating 

spaces where observation, memory, and imagination intersect.

My work begins with curiosity. A walk through a neighborhood, a conversation, a 

journey, a remembered landscape, or an unexpected relationship between shapes 

and colors often becomes the starting point for a painting. I rarely begin with a 

predetermined image or narrative. Instead, each work develops through a process 

of exploration, allowing meaning to emerge through layering, revision, and 

discovery.

Abstraction allows me to tell stories without illustrating them. Rather than 

presenting fixed narratives, I create visual environments where color, geometry, 

symbols, and gesture suggest possibilities instead of certainty. I am interested in 

the space between recognition and ambiguity, where viewers bring their own 

experiences and imagination to complete the story.

Color is the visual memory of my paintings. Shaped by a lifetime of travel, 

observation, and curiosity across cultures and landscapes, I use color to evoke 

atmosphere, memory, and emotion rather than simply describe the visible world. 

Layer by layer, each painting becomes less about a specific place than the lasting 

impressions it leaves behind, inviting viewers to discover their own memories 

within the work.

My practice exists at the intersection of traditional painting and technology. 

Throughout a career in engineering, technology consulting, and information 

technology leadership, I maintained a continuous studio practice. Digital drawing, 

photography, and observation have become extensions of my creative process, 

helping ideas evolve before they find their final expression in paint. Technology 

informs the way I think; painting remains the language through which I 

communicate.

I work in series rather than isolated images. Each painting becomes part of a larger 

conversation where ideas evolve, unexpected relationships emerge, and curiosity 

continues to guide the work. Equally important is the community that surrounds it. 

Collaborations with artists, curators, educators, researchers, and audiences have 

continually expanded my understanding of what painting can do. I believe art is 

most meaningful when it creates dialogue—between artist and viewer, between 

disciplines, and between individual experience and shared human understanding.

Ultimately, my paintings are invitations rather than conclusions. They ask viewers 

to slow down, look carefully, question first impressions, and discover their own 

narratives. Every painting remains open to interpretation, continuing to reveal new 

meanings through the experiences each viewer brings to it.

Francisco Alvarado (PAKO) is an Ecuador-born American contemporary artist based in Los Angeles whose work explores perception, memory, abstraction, and the narratives that emerge through the relationship between color, geometry, and symbolism. His paintings invite viewers to slow down, look beyond first impressions, and discover their own interpretations.

Francisco developed an early passion for drawing, encouraged by a teacher who recognized his talent and by countless hours studying art books from museums in Europe. 

After moving to California in 1969, he pursued studies in Mechanical Engineering while maintaining a lifelong commitment to making art.

For more than four decades, Francisco followed parallel paths in art and technology. From 1997 to 2005, he worked as a technology consultant with Deloitte, followed by his role as an Information Technology Director from 2005 to 2016. 

Throughout his professional career, he continued an active studio practice, developing a systems-based approach to creative problem-solving that continues to inform his paintings. The balance between intuition and structure, improvisation and thoughtful composition has become a defining characteristic of his work.

Following the loss of his wife in 2008, painting assumed an even more significant role in his life, becoming both a means of reflection and a deeper form of artistic exploration. Encouraged by his partner Karen and enriched through collaborations with fellow artists, his work evolved into a distinctive visual language that draws upon painting, drawing, digital media, and constructed objects.

Working under the name PAKO, Francisco continues to investigate how visual language can communicate curiosity, memory, perception, humor, and the complexity of human behavior without relying on literal representation. 

Shaped by a lifetime of travel, observation, and continual exploration across cultures and landscapes, his paintings invite viewers into open-ended visual conversations where color becomes a vehicle for memory and storytelling. 

His work has been exhibited throughout Southern California and continues to evolve through an ongoing dialogue between traditional painting, contemporary abstraction, and technology

 Instagram  @franciscoalaartist

PAKO© PAKOART© , MAXimus©  ,  KUENTOS© 

July 25- August 21, 2026

• Los Angeles Art Association is proud to present Apocrypha, an all media exploration of artist influences. Apocrypha will run online only July 25-August 21, 202

June 20- July 24, 2026

• Los Angeles Art Association proudly presents our next exhibit at Gallery 825: BEDROCK. Artists are often inward looking and reflective, BEDROCK is an all media opportunity for artists to express their strong beliefs.
• Juror: Teresa Eggers, David Kordansky Gallery 

May 23 - September 6, 2026

Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles

• 400+Artists Paint Their Favorite Book
• Curated by Mat Gleason

February 27 -   March 1, 2026

• Call and Response to the Start Up Art Fair (February 27 - March 1, 2026)  https://www.startup-art.com/ at the Kinney Hotel in Venice Beach. This will be the first in-person iteration of the digital  collaboration project that has connected 500+ artists across 20+ rounds since the pandemic. Two book Collaborations shown:

1. Between Doubt and Rupture - Francisco Alvarado - Robert Sofian  
2. Nobody knows what they're doing - Francisco Alvarado/Erika Shi