B2 Atelier is pleased to present Between Worlds, a duo exhibition bringing together the sculptural practices of Mauricio De la Parra and Austin Brantley.

Though distinct in visual language, both artists engage the human figure as a threshold — a site where memory, identity, and imagination converge. Their works inhabit spaces suspended between past and present, reality and myth, ancestry and becoming.

De la Parra draws from the tradition of Magical Realism to construct psychologically charged tableaux in which children, animals, and hybrid forms appear poised between innocence and transformation. His meticulously rendered figures suggest a world governed not by logic, but by emotional truth — where vulnerability becomes strength and fantasy reveals interior reality.

Brantley, by contrast, anchors the exhibition in ancestral gravity. Drawing from classical Western sculpture and the symbolic heritage of African artistic traditions, he reconfigures the human figure as an architecture of memory. His forms embody lineage, endurance, and cultural continuity, proposing identity as an evolving continuum rather than fixed inheritance.

Together, the artists expand the notion of “between worlds” beyond geography. It becomes a condition of existence: the negotiation between history and imagination, fragility and resilience, individual experience and collective memory. Through distinct sculptural vocabularies, both De la Parra and Brantley reveal the figure as a bridge — carrying the weight of the past while gesturing toward possibility.

Austin Brantley

Austin Brantley’s sculptural practice unfolds as a powerful dialogue between history, identity, and cultural memory. Drawing from both classical Western traditions and the profound symbolic heritage of African art, Brantley creates a contemporary figurative language that bridges civilizations separated by geography yet united through shared human experience. His work reflects a deep engagement with lineage — not as a fixed inheritance, but as a living continuum shaped by resilience, transformation, and time.

Influenced by the anatomical precision and harmony of classical Greek sculpture alongside the spiritual and narrative depth found in African artistic traditions, Brantley reimagines the human figure as a site of cultural convergence. His sculptures merge elegance with emotional gravity, where fragmented histories and modern realities coexist within a single form. Figures emerge not only as physical presences but as carriers of memory, embodying endurance, introspection, and quiet strength.

Through layered symbolism and expressive surfaces, Brantley challenges conventional perceptions of identity and belonging. The figures often appear suspended between past and present, suggesting the ongoing negotiation of cultural heritage within contemporary life. Echoes of marginalized histories are embedded within each gesture and posture, transforming the sculptures into reflections on survival, dignity, and collective humanity.

By fusing classical aesthetics with culturally rooted narratives, Austin Brantley affirms sculpture’s enduring capacity to connect histories, perspectives, and people. His work ultimately invites viewers into a contemplative space where cultural boundaries dissolve, revealing the universality of the human spirit across time.