My name is Jesús Torres Alfonso. My artistic name is Zaplaflora. I was born in Cuba in 1960. Since I was a child, I developed my vocation to create art, inspired by the beauty of Caribbean nature. Nature is still my main source of inspiration today, establishing a spiritual and surreal connection with it when I create art. In 1984, I graduated as an engineer in Cuba, and since then, I pride myself of using my professional knowledge of engineering in my fascinating world of artistic creation. In 1997, I emigrated to the United States, and since then I have lived and worked as an artist in Miami. In my works, you can feel the legacy of Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, and Manuel Mendive, among other great Masters of international painting, but I am proud to have reached a stage in my artistic career where my most unique and personalized style prevails, where I give free rein to spontaneity, freshness in designs and shapes, very attractive color contrasts, the thoughtful use of light and shadow spots, and the creation of images from different perspectives that appear to be in motion.
My art has captured the interest of the press in Miami, the most important being two extensive reports by El Nuevo Herald in 1998 and 2022. Verónica Egui Brito, journalist of El Nuevo Herald, wrote in November 2022: “Since arriving in Miami more than 25 years ago, Zaplaflora has evolved as an artist, with surrealist paintings of nature that are thought-provoking, spiritually…His works, mainly focused on painting with acrylic and metallic acrylic, are thought-provoking, and are both, expressive and sensual. Its bright colors and ornate patterns evoke emotions, while viewers are encouraged to decipher symbols and shapes”.
I have participated in countless international art exhibitions, both physical and virtual, including those sponsored by People and Paintings Gallery in New York; MundoArti in Spain; Italian International Art Group and Gallery “Masters of Art”; Aries, Galería de Arte in Venezuela; Art Ikonte in Mexico; Indonesian Beyond the Rainbow; and Ecira International Platform in Argentina. Among the physical ones, my participation in exhibitions sponsored by the Hialeah City Council is particularly noteworthy.
Special mention deserves my participation from October. 15th 2022 to February 5th 2023 in the 2022 Florida Biennial sponsored by “Art and Culture Center” in Hollywood. My original painting “Pollination in the Garden of Love” (2022) was exposed, after a curated selection process, among more than 1000 submitted paintings by more than 300 artists from all the state of Florida. Ylva Rouse, curator of Contemporary Art Museum (MOCA) in Jacksonville, Florida, and member of the Jury in the 2022 Florida Biennial, asked about Zaplaflora´s Art by the journal “El Nuevo Herald” in November 2022, explained: “I had the pleasure of selecting Zaplaflora's work for its colorful and enigmatic canvases, which are framed in Magical Realism, as a way to bring us closer to understanding our connection to nature and its inherent mysterious and ultimately existential quality…Zaplaflora's work is one of the ways in which today's artists attempt to express the need to redefine our relationship with nature, drawing a parallel with the internal components of life”.
I have had three virtual solo exhibitions: the most recent one, in November 2024, “Zaplaflora Art” hosted by Mexican Art Ikonte International Art Group. The other two: "Zaplaflora´s Art: Reflections of an Artist", at New York People and Paintings Gallery in July 2024, where I exposed 20 paintings spanning a large part of my artistic career to the present day; the first, in 3D format, "Zaplaflora: With Ecological Flavor", with the Spanish gallery MundoArti from March to July 2022, where I presented a sample of 24 paintings.
I have received important international art awards. Mentioning them all would make this brief biography too long. However, I would like to specifically mention, among the most recent ones, the Popular Vote Award in the New York People & Paintings Gallery “Eyes: A Passage to the Inner World” International Art Exhibition; the First Place Award by Italian International Art Group and Gallery “Masters of Art” during several consecutive months in its monthly online contest events; the Best Artist Award 2025 in March 2025 from the Indonesian Colors Shade Art International Community; Honor Mention in the international exhibition "Art Heroes" by Art Ikonte in Mexico in February 2025; the Popular Vote Awards at the New York People and Paintings Gallery Juried Exhibitions in September 2025 and September and October 2024; and the Curator´s Award at the People and Paintings Gallery Juried Exhibition “Dream and Reality” in March 2024.
It is worth highlighting my work as Curator for the 34th New York People and Paintings Gallery Virtual International Juried Exhibition in March 2025. The Gallery wrote the following review about my curatorial work: "It was a great pleasure working with you. We are delighted to learn that you are not only a talented artist but also a skilled curator."
My works are currently on display in several physical art galleries in Miami and several other international virtual ones. Many of my paintings are also now part of private collections in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
A French Art collector, who purchased two of my paintings in 2022, sent me a letter: “Jesús, I have just received these two magnificent paintings that you have lovingly dedicated to our precious nature. It´s with emotions and heart filled with joy that I can contemplate these masterpieces that are of breathtaking beauty. You have imbued yourself with such details, beautiful reliefs, colors and symbols; these paintings are full of magic and love. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for these sumptuous gifts”.