Nayeli Lavanderos
Nayeli Lavanderos is a Mexican artist based in Portugal whose practice is rooted in the nahual — a figure from Mexican cosmology that describes each person as walking through life accompanied by an animal, their inner counterpart. Working with India ink and watercolor markers on paper, she creates intricate portraits of Power Animals that combine precise linework, symbolic detail, and an intuitive process. She holds an MA in Motion Media Design from SCAD and has a background in graphic design. She has participated in group exhibitions in New York and Lisbon, and presented her first solo exhibition, Sacred Power Animals, at Jardim Gallery in Ericeira in 2025. She is currently developing a new body of large‑scale color works, expanding her ongoing Power Animals series.
Education
2011 — MA Motion Media Design, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Savannah, Georgia.
Selected Exhibitions
2026 — Group exhibition, Amilak Art Gallery, Lisbon
2026 — Sacred Power Animals (solo), Jardim Gallery, Ericeira
2025 — Group exhibition, Greenpoint Studios, Brooklyn, New York
2016 — (additional information not provided)
Press / Publications
February 2026 — Interview published in Create! Magazine
Artistic Statement My work explores the relationship between animals and the human inner world. Through detailed India‑ink drawings on paper, I create portraits of Power Animals — figures that carry qualities such as protection, intuition, strength, and transformation. Rooted in Mexican cosmology and the Mesoamerican concept of the nahual, this practice understands the animal as companion, mirror, and archetypal presence. Each drawing unfolds slowly, line by line, through repetition, precision, and stillness. The process itself is contemplative — a form of listening. I work primarily with black ink on paper and am currently developing a new series of large‑scale works that introduce color for the first time, deepening this ongoing conversation with the animal world. These works are an invitation to slow down: to reconnect with the natural world, with intuition, and with the quiet presence animals can carry.
