Alvar Jacomet (b. 1995, Los Angeles, California) is an American-Argentinian figurative painter who finds inspiration in the abstraction of recognizable forms and symbols into new shapes and structures. Working primarily in acrylic, his main subject matter is his artificial surroundings — be it San Franciscan Victorians, a bus, or even archival images of long-lost structures and homes.

Every piece begins as a digital collage, made mostly with pictures Jacomet takes when going for walks. He then traces the collage and uses different texture mediums to build up the surface and forms. Once this slow and steady step is finished, the piece is ready to be painted. This process builds up a lot of medium onto the piece’s surface, and the sharp, accurate trace lines make way for a melding of different shapes and a softer silhouette. In this way, static forms take on new shapes, exploring the tension between the enduring and the ephemeral.

Jacomet’s work has been exhibited in the de Young Museum and numerous galleries throughout the Bay Area, including Mothbelly Gallery and Strike Slip Gallery. He currently lives and works in San Francisco.