Eilen Itzel Mena

Eilen Itzel Mena in her Studio, 2025
Photo: Fikayo Adebajo

Eilen Itzel Mena, born 1994 in the USA, is an Afro-Dominican American artist, writer and community organiser from the South Bronx, now based in London. She completed a BFA at USC Roski School of Art & Design in Los Angeles in 2017 and an MFA in Painting at UCL Slade School of Fine Arts in 2024, where she received the Adrian Carruthers Studio Prize. Her work has been exhibited internationally and she has participated in numerous residencies. She is currently an artist-in-residence at ACME’s early careers programme in London and collaborates with Honey and Smoke, a global artist community focused on meditative and educational engagement.

Her practice explores joy and purpose within the African Diaspora and Latin America, reflecting on community, ancestry and colonial history. From an intersectional, femme and Afro-Diasporic perspective, she challenges perceptions of trauma and reality through saturated hues that evoke joy. Colour is both personal and political, recalling her childhood in the Dominican Republic where brightly painted homes symbolised a joyful existence.

Working across painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation and performance, Mena subverts socio-political invisibility imposed on Black individuals. Her work channels emotions—joy, anger, sadness, confusion—demanding visibility for transformation. She often explores the relationship between the inner child and the adult self.

Her paintings visualise spaces that are real, spiritual and imaginative. Abstract works embody diasporic history through coded mark making. Representational pieces integrate remnants of the human figure—heads, hands, feet—into abstract environments where body and spirit converge. Extremities adorned with lashes, lipstick and acrylic nails celebrate beauty, self-love and care within femme communities of the African Diaspora and Latin America.

Mena also incorporates green and brown beaded bracelets called Ide, worn by Ifa practitioners, underscoring her connection to spirituality and ancestry.

Her art is vivid, layered and energetically expressive, asserting presence against the psychological invisibility of Black bodies, creativity and histories in Eurocentric societies. It is crucial for her that her work resonates with and is experienced by African Diaspora and Latin American communities.

  • Education

    2022-2024 MFA Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, UK

    2013-2017 B.A Fine Arts, USC Roski School of Art & Design, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    2017 Study Abroad Program, Universidade Católica do Salvador, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    2009-2013 High School Diploma, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT, USA

    Exhibitions

    Solo and Duo

    Mar 2025 In Her Spirit, Bolanle Contemporary and Sadie Cole’s HQ, The Shop, London, UK

    Jan 2025 La Subida del Destino (Destiny’s Climb), Moosey Gallery, Norwich, UK

    Jun 2024 Slade MA/MFA Postgraduate Degree Shows, London, UK

    Apr 2024 In Bloom, Kira Streletzki, Berlin, Germany

    Feb 2022 Holding Self-Regard, Tremaine Gallery, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT

    Aug 2020 Inner Eye: Alignment, Perfection & Completion, Leiminspace, Los Angeles, CA

    Sept 2018 Once it Fell..., Right Window Gallery, San Francisco, CA

    Jul 2016 Mangu, Studio 106: LA, The Barker Hanger, Santa Monica, CA

    Group

    Oct 2024 and so the broken mend themselves, Somers Gallery, Curated by LATAMesa, London, UK

    Sept 2024 Portals, Royal Overseas League, London, UK

    Aug 2024 You Can Sit With Us Too, Haricot Gallery, London, UK

    Dec 2023 Slade School of Fine Art MA/MFA Interim Show, London, UK

    Apr 2023 Inestable, Casa Lü, Mexico City, Mexico

    Mar 2023 Impressions, Subtitle Labs, London, UK

    Dec 2022 Torrents: New Links to Black Futures, Cultural DC, Washington, DC

    Jul 2022 Resilience, Superposition Gallery & Eastville Museum, Sag Harbor, NY

    Mar 2022 Home, Season Aotearoa, Auckland, New Zealand

    Feb 2022 Humor Has It, Olympia Artz Gallery, New York, NY

    Dec 2021 New Season, Processa Art, Brooklyn, NY

    Oct 2021 Post It Notes, UUU Gallery, Rochester, NY

    Oct 2021 The Meeting Point Vol. 2, Regular Normal, New York, NY

    Sept 2021 An Ode To, Artsy Window x Band of Vices, Los Angeles, CA

    Sept 2020 Celebrate Longevity, Superposition Gallery, Reform Club Amagansett, Amagansett, NY

    Jun 2020 Masterpiece, Band of Vices Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

    Mar 2020 Parallel Realities & Unspoken Truths, Superposition Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

    Feb 2020 Labor of Love, Superposition Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

    Dec 2019 Who Owns Black Art?: Questions on Cultural Ownership, Zeal & Superposition Gallery, Miami, FL

    Aug 2019 Boiling Point, Superposition Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

    Jun 2019 By Us, Reparations Club, Los Angeles, CA

    May 2019 CMY=K, Superposition Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

    Aug 2018 LSI Open Studios Showcase, Slade Research Center, London, UK

    Aug 2018 Superposition, Superposition Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

    Aug 2018 LSI Showcase, Camden Arts Center, London, UK

    Residences and Fellowships

    2025 ACME Artist Residency, London, UK

    2024 Prose x Mae House Rest as Residency, Athens, NY

    2023 Casa Lü Artist Residency, Mexico City, Mexico

    2022 Visiting Artist Residency, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT

    2020 ZEAL Studio Incubator Program, ZEAL, Inglewood, CA

    2018 LSI Artist Residency, Camden Arts Center & UCL Slade School of Art, London, UK

    2017 Getty Multicultural Internship Program, Los Angeles, CA

    Awards

    2024 Adrian Carruthers Award

    2023 Slade School of Fine Art Terence Cuneo Prize

    2023 Creo Changemakers Artist Grant

    2021 Vibrant Cities Artist Grant

    2020 Sozé Foundation Artist Grant

    2020 TILA Studios Artist Grant

    2020 MAF Los Angeles Creative Grant

    2020 Center for Cultural Innovation Relief Fund Grant for Visual Artists

    2017 CIEE Brazil Study Abroad Scholarship & Travel Grant

    2016 USC Gateway Research Scholars Program Grant

    2016-2017 USC Black Alumni Association Scholarship

    2014-2017 USC Latino Alumni Association Scholarship

    2013-2017 USC Scholarship

    Publications

    Mar 2021 Mena, Eilen Itzel. Who Owns Black Art?: Questions on Cultural Ownership and Cooperative Economics. Deem Journal. Print & Web.

    Jul 2020 Edited by Nahja Zigbi-Johnson. Freedom School: A seminar for Theory and Praxis for Black Studies in the United States. Harvard University. 17 July 2020. Web.

    Jul 2020 Neumann, Ann. Unnatural Disasters. The Baffler. Issue 52. 6 July 2020. Web.

    Jul 2019 Pfaff, John. Locked Up: Why the Movement for Criminal Justice is Stalled. The Baffler. Issue 46. 2 July 2019. Web.

NEWS

  • Untitled Art, Miami Beach

    We are delighted to be presenting Eilen Itzel Mena, at Untitled Art Miami Beach this December.

    Rooted in ancestral memory, healing and spiritual consciousness, her practice bridges figuration and abstraction to expand the viewer’s encounter with the personal and spiritual. Mena’s artworks in the booth will reflect on the search for joy, destiny and purpose through the journey of life.

    At the heart of our presentation is an installation that embodies this duality, bringing together vibrant, emotionally charged works that explore both grounding and transcendence.

    Untitled Art, Miami Beach
    VIP and Press Day 2 December
    3–7 December 2025
    Nest Section

  • Oil on canvas
    165cm × 230 cm

    Eilen Itzel Mena and Jemila Isa, In Her Spirit, 2025. Installation view, Bolanle Contemporary × The Shop, Sadie Coles HQ.

    Photo: Arthur Beardmore-Gray.

  • Oil on canvas
    170 × 130 cm

    Eilen Itzel Mena and Jemila Isa, In Her Spirit, 2025. Installation view, Bolanle Contemporary × The Shop, Sadie Coles HQ.

    Photo: Arthur Beardmore-Gray.

  • Oil on Wood Panel
    32cm x 21.5cm

    Installation view, Bolanle Contemporary × The Shop, Sadie Coles HQ.

    Photo: Arthur Beardmore-Gray.