
HILDA PALAFOX (aka PONI)
Cuando Baja Le Marea (When The Tide Comes Down)
Thinkspace is pleased to present “Cuando Baje La Marea (When the Tide Comes Down)” from Mexico City artist Hilda Palafox, also known as Poni. The artist’s absorbing works often contain the female form. The artist shares, “Girls, love, rain, and music are my biggest inspirations.” And whether it’s on canvas, paper, linen, ceramic, or adorning a wall, her work brings together those elements in fresh and uplifting ways.
Palafox grew up and is based in Mexico City, she has an bachelor’s degree in Integral Design and since 2006 has been spreading her beautifully crafted dolls around her home country. Her illustrations carry an air of pureness and at times, a very elegant apathy. She enjoys mixing and matching techniques, for each piece the results are always held together by a gentile and graceful balance. Subtle suggestions of expressions and emotions held together by light bodies and romantic surroundings.
Hilda’s alluring mural work can be found from the island of Holbox in Quintana Roo to the streets of Southern California to the rooftops of Mexico City. Her characters blend in, inviting you to watch, from their pupil-less glances to their doe eyed stares, a seduction that could only be a vision, reminding us of a graceful nostalgia.
Hilda Palafox is an artist who balances fluidity, simplicity and a sort of visual poetry in her work. She lives and works in the chaos of one of the most populated cities in the world and yet her work is ever more calm and romantic.

KAYLA MAHAFFEY
Deconstructed
Concurrently on view in the Thinkspace project room is “Deconstructed” from Kayla Mahaffey. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Mahaffey (also known as KaylaMay) is quickly becoming one of the city’s most sought-after artists with her unique blend of flat, cartoon elements with brilliant photo-realism.
Mahaffey’s work gives voice to the unheard stories of contemporary youth and, as explained by the artist, “serves as a guide to bring hope back into our daily lives by cherishing each moment not in the mindset of an adult, but with the fresh eyes and imagination of a child.”
Being born and raised on the South side of Chicago, IL., only ignited Kayla’s love for all things art. The artist elaborates, “seeing the struggle and the support from the community made my work evolve to a concept that is personal to me. I continue to further my technique, and creativity in my field in order to paint a beautiful picture of a new world for those around me. Living in our society can be tough and most of the time we have to make the best of it. A wild imagination can take you so far, but at the end of the day we need to realize and observe the world around us. And the world around us is where I find my inspiration to paint. Colorful paintings that contain hints of whimsy and realism that tell a story of inner thoughts and personal issues that sometimes go unheard.”

Online Schedule of Virtual Events:
Saturday, May 2 at 12:00 noon pacific time we will post our professionally shot video tour of both our May exhibitions to our Instagram TV
Saturday, May 2 from 1-2PM pacific time we will go live on our Instagram Stories to tour both exhibitions, have a bit of fun, giveaway some stuff and answer some questions
Sunday, May 3 at 2pm pacific time we will post a full set of photos from both exhibitions to our Facebook and blog
Monday, May 4 at 2PM pacific time we will share a link to our self-guided virtual tour of both exhibitions on all of our social networks (links to all below)
Monday, May 4 at 4 PM pacific time we will debut ‘Magic Mondays’ with our close friend WORM who will wow us all with his sleight of hand magic and feats of wonder. He really is a mind-blowing magician and we think it will be fun to share with you all. Looking forward to having this be a weekly featuring during our li’l pandemic lockdown and we’ll always give a li’l look at both shows as well.