Espiritu del Colibri

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on August 3, 2011 at 11:52am

Curator’s Comment:

 

 

Espiritu del Colibri (spirit of the ..hummingbird?) is a striking work- powerful in its strong diagonal thrust, but sensitively modeled with a limited color palette and generous amount of negative space.  I’m curious about the mixed media, as there seems to be layering of color and texture.  The warm brown ochre pigment is nuanced, and balanced by the cooler white opaque sections.  While I can’t make out a distinctly recognizable figure, there is an organic, spirited presence to the subject matter.  The angularity of the forms also counterbalances to the visceral, primitive archaic surface.  The paint seems almost scrubbed into a sculptural surface rather than applied with a brush, possibly accounting for the aged brown patina.  I also enjoy your Dangerous Toy works, which have a similar handling of form, but with a broader color scheme.  They appear more apprehensive or threatening, possibly because of the lighter expectation of ‘toy’ in the title.  I also seem to be made more aware of an articulated surface inn these works.  I think this works from a purely formal standpoint, but you do sacrifice a suspension of belief, or illusionistic space because the texture keeps bringing me back to the flat dimensionality of the picture plane.

You work reminds me of Rufino Tamayo, one of my favorite painter/printmakers. He too worked within the murky sphere between whimsical caricature, and a darker, more foreboding existence.