JULIANA RIOS
Known Landscapes, Distant Places
I faithfully believe that art must be the result of the construction of both identity and a process of thought. This is the reason why I have looked into my family's roots; to understand where I come from and the images and places which have influenced, somewhat constructed my vision of the world and have allowed me to understand the context in which I live and the way I make decisions. Subjects on identity, migration, death, family and tradition define the guidelines of my conceptual work. I have the fortune of benefitting from a strong indigenous cultural tradition on my mother’s side, which has opened up a pathway for me to create an imaginary of cross-breeding with a conscious identity."
JULIANA RIOS
Juliana Rios challenges the narratives behind our daily human experience and how we express ourselves in a state of alienation. Rios' paintings result from a three-month residency in La Guajira, Colombia. After rebuilding her grandmother's house, she moved from the capital to the small town of Villanueva with her husband and her newborn child. Her work is a testimony of her daily existence and her neighbour's experiences from very intuitive and honest observations. In her paintings, the viewer can watch how life changes in this small town, how it slows down and time is turned back.
About the artist
Juliana Ríos Martínez is a Colombian painter and visual artist. Through her images, she intends to establish relationships between time, cultural identity, life in the countryside and her position as a Latin American female painter. She is a Fellow of the Quebec Council of Arts and Letters, Atelier Circulaire (Montreal), Sitka Fines Arts Camp, the Colombian Ministry of Culture, and AIR (Esbeek- Holland). She has collaborated with and managed various cultural spaces in Bogotá and her work has been exhibited across Colombia, North America and Europe. She lives and works in Bogotá and La Guajira.