Misleidys Francisca Castillo Pedroso

*1985, Cuba

Misleidys Francisca Castillo Pedroso was born in 1985 near Havanna, Cuba, with a severe hearing impairment. Her father left the family when she was still a young child.

She was developmentally delayed, and when she was five years old, her mother sent her to a care home for disabled children. There her symptoms of autism became evident, and she had to leave. She returned to live with her mother and younger brother, but remained socially very isolated. Misleidys showed a great interest in coloured pencils and watercolours from an early age. One day she began to draw male bodybuilders, which gradually increased in size, until they were sometimes larger than life. She cuts out these figures and uses strips of brown sticky tape to fix them onto the walls. She also draws female bodybuilders, demons and individual body parts, such as heads and feet. Those closest to her believe she is clairvoyant, like her mother. Misleidys communicates with her artworks using gestures. This brings her own completely individual mythology to life. In 2016 her work was exhibited for the first time at the christian berst art brut gallery in Paris.

Her works can be seen in the Treger-Saint Silvestre collection in Portugal and in the collection of Amr Shaker in Switzerland. As of 2021, Misleidys Francisca Castillo Pedroso has also been represented in the 921 works of the “Donation d'Art Brut de Bruno Decharme” at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Selected works