SNEAK PEEK: Ricardo Copado

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Ricardo Copado poses with his mural at Edmonton's downtown public library. (courtesy the artist)

What better place for magical realism than a children’s library – whether in the pages of a book or the art on the wall. 

Mexican-born artist Ricardo Copado’s fantastical paintings are an enchanting addition to the children’s section of Edmonton’s downtown public library, which reopened Sept. 17 after a three-year, $84.5-million renovation.

His mural, The Journey Beyond: Boundaries of Imagination, is filled with whimsy and magic. 

Composed of 145 oil paintings on wood panels of various shapes and sizes, it is tiled together in a dynamic floor-to-ceiling composition that offers plenty of surreal imagery for youngsters to explore – whether fanciful sea creatures, houses tumbling through the sky or a barn with flying hay bales.

“I want them to feel like they are inside a children’s book and they can create their own stories,” he says.

Copado says he becomes fascinated by the objects around him. 

“As I think about these elements in depth, they get incorporated into my subconscious and imagination until they ultimately appear in my art.” 

Events in the wider world also influence him, as do his personal experiences.

“It is difficult to separate the feelings, emotions and challenges I am going through from the art I create,” he says. “When I create a piece of art, it often depicts an ongoing theme, or inspiration that is ruminating inside of me at that time.”

Copado earned a visual arts degree at the University of Guadalajara, where he developed a fascination with the Group of Seven. He exhibited his work in Mexico before moving to Canada in 2008 as a foreign worker in a restaurant.

“After many years of hard work, I am a full-time artist, and had the opportunity to see the Group of Seven’s art in person, which was a dream come true for me,” says Copado, now a Canadian citizen.

His recent work fuses Canadian and Mexican influences with themes related to migration, home, change, adaptation, renewal and finding happiness amidst new surroundings. ■ 

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