Portfolio > Emotional Hurricanes

Do public confessionals of daily affirmations on Instagram heal a broken heart faster than affirming one’s self-worthiness in private therapy? Is journalism to blame for the neurotic emotional state of Americans? Which came first: the tweet or the policy?

Pedro Vélez’s Emotional Hurricanes series originate in simple, meaningful acts, like caressing the tangled hair of a loved one. These tangled lines can also be seen in a series of paintings depicting the twisted cords of non-responsive window blinds, the internet “tubes”, or the fallen cables from the electric infrastructure left after the destruction of hurricane María. His disjointed lines lead us to vistas of coral reefs visible through the blinds. For Vélez, coral reefs serve as affirmative metaphors against climate change deniers as well as natural regenerative processes of emotional healing.

In the series Emotional Backpatches, Vélez portrays anonymous protesters wearing nostalgic jean jackets scrawled with their innermost feelings embodied in back patches. Vélez body of work encapsulates how intimacy is disrupted, occupied, and influenced by our digital selves, and the wild, uncontained landscape of political bots, social media alerts, relentless news cycles, disinformation campaigns, and emojis.

2025
Exhibited at Liliana Bloch Gallery, Dallas
Acrylic on curtain material mesh. Sculpted acrylic paint component
48” x 62”
2022
Detail
2022
2025
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2025
Collection Hernández Castrodad
Acrylic and drip on folded and cut drop cloth canvas
2025
2025
2025
2025
Collection of Jerome O’Neill
Acrylic, spray paint, graphite, painted push pins and folded canvas on drop cloth canvas and ink sublimation on aluminum.
60” x 75”
2015
2025
2025
2025
2025
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2025
Collection of Susan Gescheidle. Chicago
Acrylic on and sculpted acrylic on canvas and machete
2018
Man facing wild fires and floods Alone and Naked (from Nature was Healing)
Acrylic, ink, collage, and sculpted acrylic on canvas
11” x 14”
$1500
2025
2025
2025
Listening to a Danza After the Hurricane (2017-2019)
acrylic on raw canvas and painted oversized push pins
2022
Jerome O’Neill Collection
36” x 48”
Americans in Flint. Americans in Puerto Rico. Americans in Nestlé
Acrylic, spray paint, raw pigment on raw drop cloth canvas
48” x 70”
Leaf Balancing on a Twig
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 60"
2022
2022
2025
2025
2025
2025
Bring me the Heads of Your Hedge Fund Managers
Acrylic on raw canvas and pigment sublimation on aluminum
43" x 26"
2025