Florindo Rosas II (The Father)

The work of Argentine painter, draftswoman, printmaker, and performer Mildred Burton always oscillates between reality and dream. Those who knew her say that, when asked if she was a surrealist, she would simply reply, “I am myself.” The fantastic atmosphere in Burton’s images draws on her Irish background, more specifically on the stories her mother would tell her. Though she painted from the time she was a child, it was only after moving to Buenos Aires that she was able to concentrate on her art. Like wordless fables, Burton’s paintings voice a unique and biting critique of the mandates that determine how we live. "Florindo Rosas II (el padre)" is from a series the artist painted in the nineteen-seventies. It evidences not only her lavish imagination but also the increasingly sinister atmosphere in Argentina at the time. Here and in other works, Burton portrays invented ancestors. With delicate irony, the artist questions, among other things, the oppressive pressure of family life, the weight of tradition, and ideals of masculinity and class that, though outdated, continue to exercise influence.