We all have countless individual experiences with the places that we occupy, engage with and that surround us. These environments, sometimes mundane or some more memorable than others, are part of our identity and our individual timelines. My art practice is an account that draws inspiration from my own connections and experiences with the world. The concept of landscape is one point of departure for the main mural that is part of the show titled "The Boundary Lines Have Fallen In Pleasant Places For Me".
It is important to point out that my work is not preoccupied with faithfully describing aspects of nature and architecture or using nature as a model for imitation. As it is common in my art practice; abstraction of the objective world allows room for an inaccuracy that is placed in contrast to a sense of perfection brought into the mix through geometrical relations. The work is also driven by a purposely placed tension between order and disorder. Producing the murals on the show, as it happens with all of my work, involves instances of waiting, contemplating and considering what I am working on and then anticipating the next move.
Through the various artworks in the exhibition I am working using multiple creative approaches and materials. The main mural on the show is made out of rice paper tape and vinyl material. Tape and vinyl are very efficient and versatile materials. Very little material that is compressed into small rolls or sheets can cover a lot of wall space. Some of the material can be reused and most of it can also be recycled.
Wooden pieces that are commonly used at the Arvada Center as bases or pedestals were adapted and attached to the main exhibition wall. These wooden pieces on the wall allow the mural to have volume so lines and color areas can come out of the wall. Two grid areas made out of black lines were laid on the center of the wall. Then these grids were deconstructed and new lines, colors and shapes were added on top or used to extend the mural across the wall. In the making of the mural there is a lot of repositioning of elements and response to the wall's physical features. Wide lines were introduced at a later stage of the making process to produce a more bold look and give a stronger presence to the mural.
There is a second mural above the main entrance of the Arvada Center which is more streamlined. The horizontal elements and placement of this mural is closer in appearance to a landscape than any of the other artworks that are part of the exhibition. The show also includes five paintings that are placed across from the main mural wall. Three of these pieces are works on paper that were made in 2021 and that visually gravitate more towards the architectural. These are pieces that mark a shift toward work that is heavier on texture like the two 2023 paintings that are included on the show. The exhibition simultaneously shows work that has a clean look along with work that is more rough looking, texturized and organic.
"The Boundary Lines Have Fallen In Pleasant Places For Me" is inspired by Psalm chapter 16 verse 6 from the Old Testament. The passage talks about how the jewish people used rope or string to survey and distribute land among its clans. This text provided a higher appreciation for the transformational potential of lines to mark, delineate, divide and join space. With this passage we can acknowledge the geographical, social and political power of lines since ancient times, whether these are visible or not. Psalm 16 refers to God as a refuge and also as a portion. In fact the word Makom in Hebrew means place and it is also one of the many names of God. The coexistence between the apparent and the invisible that this text describes relates in its own way is present in my own work at an structural level. Empty space or negative space has a corporeal role that is important in holding together the compositions in my work. This text helped me better understand that the line is part of the world of the apparent which in itself cannot prevail without an interconnection with the non-apparent. Furthermore, the book of psalms not only provided a source of inspiration for my work but also brought understanding, comfort and strength when dealing with my own set of personal problems.
A memorable place in my life is a concrete labyrinth that was part of my kindergarten playground. I remember it now as having a brutalist quality. It provided my first environment for wandering and empowerment. As I grew older whenever I had a chance I would go back to experience that place. Other places became special throughout my lifetime like my grandfather's farm or El Yunque Rain Forest. Living on an island where the sea is always very near and accessible or in a place like Colorado where mountains are so majestic and present can allow you to experience some sense of unity with nature. The exploration of urban areas and the outdoors has informed my art practice as well in an informal manner along with 8 bit video games graphics and many high and low art movements. These memories and influences are amalgamated through my artwork in order to present places that can be partly new, partly foreign or partly familiar.