Franck De Las Mercedes Reimagines Loss in Hauntingly Beautiful Contil Series

By Robert White, Editor-In-Chief

Art has long been a vessel for healing, but for Franck De Las Mercedes, the transformation from devastation to creative rebirth is more than symbolic—it’s literal. His latest body of work, Contil, named after the Nicaraguan word for soot, is a powerful testament to what remains after destruction, and how those remains can be transformed into beauty.

On February 18, 2014, a massive five-alarm fire tore through De Las Mercedes’ home and studio. In a matter of hours, years of work—paintings, journals, studies, sketches—were reduced to ash. “I walked out with just the clothes on my back,” he recalls. “Everything was gone.”

But memory, like soot, lingers.

A decade later, the artist found himself revisiting a digital archive of what had been preserved: scans, photographs, journal fragments, and street photography dating back to the early 2000s. Rather than grieve the loss once more, he began to experiment—layering, painting, and digitally reworking the remnants into something entirely new. Contil was born from this process: a hybrid of photography, digital collage, abstract painting, and written language that tells both personal and collective stories.

“Soot is this black, greasy residue you can never fully clean,” De Las Mercedes explains. “I saw it as a metaphor for memory, for the work that remained with me even after it was physically gone. It was still there—needing to be resolved.”

The Contil series is an emotional and deeply textured collection, exploring themes of loss, identity, resilience, and reinvention. Each piece is a layered experience—visually complex, intimate, and abstract yet unmistakably human. “People connect with the figures, even if they don’t know who they are,” says the artist. “The series has evoked something very personal in others, which tells me it’s doing what art should do—it’s making people feel.”

Born in Masaya, Nicaragua, and raised in New York City after immigrating during the civil conflict of the 1980s, De Las Mercedes brings a unique blend of cultural influences to his work. From ancient Nicaraguan petroglyphs to the electric graffiti of New York’s streets, his visual language is both global and personal. Abstract expressionism, street photography, and digital art all coexist in a vibrant conversation.

While Contil marks a new chapter in De Las Mercedes’ practice, it’s also a culmination. “This series brings everything together—my past, my heritage, my love of textures, language, and experimentation,” he says. “It’s a kind of rebirth. A phoenix rising from the ashes—but digitally rendered and painted in layers.”

Currently working from a studio in New York’s East Village, provided by Art on the Ave NYC, De Las Mercedes invites visitors to experience the evolution of Contil firsthand. The space doubles as a gallery and creative lab, where the public can see works in progress and even participate in immersive installations like a collaborative coloring room.

Beyond technique and trauma, Contil is a story about artistic perseverance. “You don’t wait for inspiration,” he explains. “Inspiration is fleeting. Discipline—that’s what carries you through. That’s what allowed me to turn loss into something meaningful.”

Franck De Las Mercedes’ Contil is more than a return to form—it’s a redefinition of it. It’s proof that even in the aftermath of ruin, beauty can rise, transformed by fire, memory, and the indelible will to create.

Visit fdlmstudio.com or follow @FDLMstudio on Instagram to explore Contil and schedule a studio visit.

Listen to the full interview with Franck De Las Mercedes on The Savoir Faire Audio Experience.