CHRIS SOTO

Puerto Rican visual artist Chris Soto was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico, and raised in the coastal town of Patillas. Holding a Master of Fine Arts in Media Design from Full Sail University and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Soto’s artistic practice explores the intersection between structure and emotion, spirituality and materiality, memory and transformation. His work has been exhibited internationally in cities including Paris, Milan, New York, Miami, Shanghai, Rome, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Through abstract compositions inspired by oceans, nature, ancestral memory, and human duality, Soto creates immersive visual experiences that invite viewers into spaces of reflection, healing, and emotional connection. For this exhibition at Fairmont El San Juan Hotel, Soto presents a body of work inspired by the ocean as both a physical and spiritual force — a space where calm and chaos, light and darkness, memory and renewal coexist in constant movement.

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Like the tides, we all exist between opposites: light and shadow, stillness and transformation. In the ocean, I find a sacred reminder that every change has a purpose and that every current, no matter how deep, guides us toward a new shore. May these works inspire connection, hope, and trust in the divine flow that unites us all.”

Dedicated to my mother, Ana Ilvia Cruz Díaz (1959–2026)

This collection was born during a journey of grief, faith, and healing. In the waters of the ocean, I found a refuge for the soul and a reminder that true love never disappears; it simply changes form and continues to accompany us with every new tide. -Chris Soto

AN INVITATION TO THE DEPTHS

There are moments in life when we all become the ocean. We come to know calm and storm. Depth and surface. Loss and hope. We experience tides that lift us and currents that seem to carry us into the unknown. Dualities of the Ocean emerges from that space where our most human emotions coexist. Inspired by the transformative power of the sea and created during a personal journey of grief, faith, and healing, this collection explores the opposing forces that live within each of us: fragility and strength, darkness and light, pain and beauty. Each work is an invitation to pause. To listen to what often remains hidden beneath the surface. To recognize that wounds can also become pathways, that transformation is born in the depths, and that, like the tides, there is always the possibility of beginning again. As you move through this exhibition, allow the ocean to speak to you. Perhaps you will discover that the waters before you are the very same waters that dwell within your soul. Chris Soto 

WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

1.Currents Beneath the Surface
Mixed Media on Canvas, 85” × 65”, 2023
2. Golden Tides After the Storm
Mixed Media on Canvas, 85” × 65”, 2023
3. At the Ocean’s Edge
Mixed Media on Canvas, 36” × 48”, 2023
4. From Tide to Shore
Mixed Media on Canvas, 36” × 48”, 2023
5. Sunset Waves
Mixed Media on Canvas, 60” × 20”, 2023
6. When Night Falls on the Sea
Mixed Media on Canvas, 60” × 20”, 2023
7. Coral Dreams at Dusk
Mixed Media on Canvas, 30” × 30”, 2023
8. Echoes of the Reef
Mixed Media on Canvas, 30” × 30”, 2023
9. Toward the Light
Mixed Media on Canvas, 30” × 40”, 2026
10. Where Light Touches the Depths
Mixed Media on Canvas, 44” × 33”, 2026
11. Healing Waters I
Mixed Media on Canvas, 30” × 40”, 2026
12. Healing Waters II
Mixed Media on Canvas, 30” × 40”, 2026