About

My practice primarily explores themes of diaspora, magical realism, and the inherent connection between person and land.

As a second-generation member of the Puerto Rican diaspora, I use painting to investigate a place I only hold in familial memory, and that is frequently distorted through stereotypes fabricated under the direction of colonialism. In my paintings, I depict figures interacting with and surrounded by cultural symbols, including wrought iron fences, tropical flora, cowrie shells, parrots, boxing gloves, and ritual items such as Florida Water. In these collaged images, fragments of reconstructed identity lie, blurring the line between communal, personal, and imagined histories. In this act, identity becomes transcendent, and healing and resistance become achievable. 

In my oil paintings, I either use shades of red and burnt sienna to reflect my current home of Los Angeles, which has been highly vulnerable to devastating wildfires, or lavish tropical colors from my ancestral home in the Caribbean. My figures, who are often lone female protagonists, try to exist in an unnaturally changing world by cleansing it or protecting themselves. They use tools such as salt circles, oversized rubber cleaning gloves, and the comfort of a lover or animals as they search for acts of personal and environmental salvation. In addition to painting, I use natural materials such as clay, found shells and seeds. By using these materials, I establish a direct connection between myself, the art object, and the earth. 

Simone Quiles is an artist residing in Los Angeles, CA. They have exhibited at Hashimoto Contemporary (Los Angeles), TLALOC Studios (Los Angeles), Art Share L.A., Woman Made Gallery Chicago, and the Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago). Recently, they’ve gained interest in curation. In 2025 they co-curated an 11 person exhibition, The Making of a Pearl and in 2024 they solo curated and produced a 10 person exhibition Like Sand for Sleepy Eyes.