Celebrated Peruvian artist Isabel Castaneda draws on personal, cultural struggles for meaning in her work, now on display in a month-long exhibit at Cameron Perks Coffeehouse.

Castaneda is a young woman whose vividly painted landscapes, portraits and depictions of cultural icons have brought her after much perseverance — success as a serious artist.  

As a girl in Peru, Castaneda’s first work involved painting the rural South American countryside and its natives. 

At age 19, Castaneda joined her parents, already living in the States, and began to do more extensive work. Her vivid, striking paintings won her local recognition, and ultimately, the notice of Reid Baron, publisher of Galleries Magazine for her work America’s Great Commission. 

Castaneda is now a permanent resident in the U.S.  Living here, says Ms. Castaneda, has encouraged her artistic sensibility to include feeling and meaning beyond the personal, allowing for the expression of larger cultural themes, including the enmeshing of multiple cultures. Castaneda’s The American Angel depicts singer/songwriter Bono, arms outstretched and head bowed, feathers extending from his arms as if wings, depicting the freedom available to immigrants in the United States. 

Isabel Castaneda’s work can be viewed and purchased throughout the month of June at the Cameron Perks Coffeehouse, located at 4911 Brenman Park Drive in the Cameron station community of Alexandria. 

A reception celebrating Ms. Castaneda and her work will take place June 28 from 3 to 5 pm. She will also have a display at the neighborhood’s Art in the Park festival on Saturday, June 21 between 9 and 3.