Cristóbal Schmal

Born in Arica, Chile, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atacama Desert, Cristóbal Schmal creates paintings and drawings rooted in narrative and symbolism. His works explore the space between the personal and the universal, weaving together elements of myth, humour and melancholy. Now based near Frankfurt after more than a decade in Berlin, Cristóbal continues to move fluidly between illustration, teaching and painting, guided by what he describes as a process of “trust and self-discovery.”

Working primarily with watercolour, gouache and graphite, he approaches each piece as a dialogue between control and intuition. “I like to think the process guides me, rather than the other way around,” he says. “It is an act of trust, of letting oneself fall, of entering a kind of trance.” His compositions often merge human and animal forms, creating symbolic encounters that suggest both connection and transformation.

Symbol and Self

Across Cristóbal’s work runs a search for meaning through image-making – a reflection on identity, spirituality and the natural world. “I sense a primitive essence in my work,” he explains, “a symbolic connection between humans and the natural world.” The result is a visual language that feels intimate and reflective, where abstraction and figuration meet.

Influenced by German Modernism and early cinema, Schmal combines a designer’s sense of structure with a painter’s sensitivity to atmosphere. His imagery feels both timeless and contemporary, a space where personal experience becomes collective memory and where storytelling becomes a means of exploring what connects us.