MATISSINA

Julia Rivera

Epoxy clay and gouache paint

8 x 4 x 4.5 inches

Series of 10

2024

About MATISSINA: 
I have recently created a new series of sculptures called Matissina, which is inspired by the famous Blue Nude series created by Henri Matisse. Throughout his career, Matisse was known for his fascination with the female form, and this particular series was created in the Spring of 1952 using gouache on paper mounted on canvas. While Matisse's cutouts appear to be effortless, the process was actually quite arduous and he sometimes struggled with it. In fact, during the creation of the Blue Nude series, Matisse became so frustrated that he stopped cutting and turned to drawing instead. He sketched a seated female nude repeatedly until he was satisfied with the result. As someone who studied Matisse's work while living in Paris, I was inspired to create these sculptures using gouache paint and epoxy clay. The Matissina sculptures are a limited edition of 10.

THE STAR OF SAN JUAN

Julia Rivera is a talented and well-educated painter who has pleased many art collectors with her daring use of color, the internal rhythms of her compositions, and above all, her playful and refreshing imagery.

In her painting, Rivera, who was born in the Bronx in 1965, and who studied art in Florence, New York, and the School of Plastics Arts of Puerto Rico, creates an attractive, fairy tale universe where carefully chosen objects – clocks, fruit, little toy cars, bottles and elongated chairs – are arranged in order to let us see their essence in a surreal but celebratory manner.

Mallarme pointed out that a good poem has to be enigmatic. I believe that good works also have to possess magic and mystery. A good work of art does not let us know everything. Influenced by Gorky, Miro, Chagall and Matta, and quite aware of what has happened in the field of ‘lite’ neo-figuration during the last three decades, Rivera combines humor and poetry to conceive well balanced scenarios where the mundane and metaphysical establish dialogue about time and the human condition.

Manuel Alvarez Lezama
Art Critic