Artist Statement

My paintings are populated by the small objects that surround us in every day life: toys, tools, blocks, plastic containers, utensils, caps, etc. These objects are depicted as they look in real life but they also function as characters in a narrative or elements in a landscape. My intention is that they are perceived in both ways: they are seen as what they really are but they are read as members of a small parallel world. This small parallel world echoes our own world. It’s a way of looking at ourselves in the mirror.

I like to paint from life because the color and light effects obtained this way are more complex, subtle and interesting. I work from set-ups built using the afore-mentioned objects, other materials (fabric, cardboard, etc) and lamps to create the intended environment. The process of building the set-ups also allows me to visualize ideas and experiment. I often combine these environments with real skies I’ve photographed. Since I’m representing alternative worlds I often bend reality: the objects may be stacked up in a way that would not stand to gravity or are suspended in the air, sometimes I paint different sections of the painting changing the lighting.

The process is similar to that of children who use toys and other objects to create a story. My characters and stories however, are not imaginary but those of our real world.

Biographical Information

I was born in Argentina and lived in Buenos Aires, the city of Jorge Luis Borges, of tango and political passions until I was 25. While I attended high school, however, my family spent two years in Venezuela. There I became the “Che” and experienced Caribbean culture. I went back to Buenos Aires where I got a Bachelor’s in English as a Second Language.

After working as a teacher of English in business I left Argentina to pursue graduate school at The Pennsylvania State University. I married a Dutch graduate student and made the US my permanent home. In 1988 I started taking art lessons at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. After moving to Austin, Texas I went back to school to study Studio Arts at the University of Texas. I’ve been a full time artist since.