Provided by AnArte Gallery
The cover art this week is part of a series called “Solstice” by Rene’ Alvarado. The series is currently on view at Twin Sisters bakery (N. New Braunfels).
Artist Statement
During the changes of the seasons we encounter changes of light and how color is interpreted. This is the reason I chose the title “Solstice” in the series of nine portraits of random individuals that came to mind during the process. Without light, there is no color and during these difficult times I felt it appropriate to express the human condition with metaphorical and symbolic purpose. The storyline of my paintings, mostly surrealistic in nature, is fluid and subject to the viewer’s interpretation. These are interpretations based on the viewer’s life chronicles. Hence, it is not possible to “map” emotional guidelines to viewing my art given the nature of its execution. The annals of art history record that Surrealism started as a literary movement in the 1920s. And, it became the preferred method of artistic expression for the likes of Pablo Picasso, Francis Pcabia, Marcel Duchamp and others of that era. This thought process for creating art is known as “automatism.” Consequently, my paintings are much like a collection of short stories written and compiled by an author for unknown readers. They allow the viewer’s unconscious mind to connect with the mind’s most profound feelings when they surface upon seeing one of my surrealistic paintings or assemblages. In short, my paintings encourage the viewer to finish my painting based on his or her unwavering emotional connections that are coupled with mental recollections of past experiences juxtaposed to the viewer’s current reality.
