Getting to Know Rafael Salazar

Rafael Salazar: Legacy in Motion

Rafael Salazar was born, as he puts it, with a paintbrush in one hand and a philosophical shrug in the other. His life, like his work, is anything but ordinary. Born in 1940s Cali, Colombia, and later swept up in the artistic storm of Barranquilla’s famed La Cueva era, Rafael’s creative journey has never followed a straight path. Instead, it zigzags boldly—more modernist sketch than mapped-out line—intersecting sculpture, painting, digital abstraction, and artificial intelligence in a swirl of colour, curiosity, and boundless energy.

Raised amidst the vibrant hues and expressive philosophies of the Colombian art scene, Rafael found early inspiration in watching greats like Botero and Obregón communicate with both words and brushstrokes. “I didn’t choose art,” he says. “It cornered me, handed me a brush, and said, ‘Go. Say something timeless.’”

Though Rafael’s hands once shaped marble and bronze, today they navigate pixels and AI prompts with the same fervour. His go-to mediums may have evolved, but his core intent remains unchanged: evoke wonder, ignite thought, and stretch reality until it smiles back. He doesn’t just paint; he performs visual jazz, improvising in digital space, creating oversized works that thrum with surreal silhouettes and abstract truths.

In fact, Rafael is among a new wave of artists forging partnerships between traditional creativity and modern machine intelligence. “I’ve merged my traditional artistry with AI—not to replace the human hand, but to extend its reach,” he explains. His digital pieces aren’t cold experiments; they’re conversations between eras—sculptor and code, oil and algorithm.

Rafael’s artistic style can best be heard rather than seen. Imagine a soundtrack as bold as The Lonely Shepherd, or as passionately nuanced as Shakira’s Vibrato, based on Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera. His art doesn’t fit genres; it invents them. His favourite part of the creative process? The sketch—“that chaotic, electric moment when anything is possible and nothing is wrong.”

His studio is part command centre, part mad scientist’s lab. Canvases lean like restless teenagers, digital screens blink like portals, and sculptures peer out from corners with the silent wisdom of old friends. Music floats through the air—sometimes classical, sometimes techno—blending with the scent of turpentine and stubborn dreams.

When asked to describe his typical day, Rafael offers a poetic kind of pragmatism: work in sprints, fuel with espresso, and always end the session one brushstroke away from ‘done’. This is how he stays hungry to return. He’s candid about criticism, seeing it as “seasoning”—essential but best applied with balance—and shares his own brand of wit when reflecting on artistic blocks: “Change lanes. Let curiosity drive until the muse catches up.”

Among his many creations, Oversized Joy holds a special place. In this piece, humanity looms large and unapologetically happy, a perfect encapsulation of Rafael’s belief that oversized art inspires oversized emotions. “My mission now is legacy,” he says, “to build an archive, mentor the next generation, and ensure my work keeps speaking long after I’ve stopped.”

Rafael has exhibited both in Colombia and the United States, charming gallery-goers and challenging their perceptions. His current body of work continues to whisper in “five languages and three dimensions,” as he explores the balance between man and machine in his surreal, joyful, and richly layered compositions. A retrospective may be on the horizon, but Rafael’s mind is already spinning toward the next digital leap.

Despite his focus on legacy, Rafael remains refreshingly grounded. He delights in long walks that end in inspiration or espresso—“whichever comes first.” He’s been known to dance with AI, binge-watch philosophy lectures, and sketch people at cafés who don’t realise they’re being made immortal. Curiosity, for him, is both compass and companion, leading him down strange paths where ideas wait like wildflowers.

He also holds a deep reverence for imagination in all its forms—believing that fiction often tells the truest stories. He builds new visual languages using the tools of the future, but his heart still listens for echoes of the past. “A market street in Bogotá,” he once said, “might become a surreal skyline. A childhood memory might end up in neon.”

Behind this fiercely creative force is a strong foundation of love and support. His partner in life provides the kind of quiet strength that fuels bold experimentation, and his family—some curious, some sceptical, all supportive—has always been part of the canvas.

Now living in Florida, Rafael finds his palette fed by the fiery skies and noisy sunsets, even as his heart floats still above the Magdalena River. His grandchildren, he jokes, are already artists in disguise.

So what’s next? Maybe a museum that feels like you’ve wandered into his imagination and accidentally sat on the furniture. Maybe a new movement that speaks with code and colour. Or maybe, just maybe, one more oversized piece that smiles back.

Either way, Rafael is still running.

Follow Rafael’s creative journey:

• Website: rafaelsalazar.com
• Instagram: @rafael_salazars
• Also: Behance, BlueSky, LinkedIn, Flipboard
  Warning: Side effects include art cravings and occasional time travel.

His motto: “My art activates the imagination into infinite levels… only the observer possesses its message.”