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Lucas en Órbita, by Carlos Tapia. A pair of enormous, concentric eyes holds the magnetic core of this sidereal journey.
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Carlos Tapia

Lucas en Órbita

Year
2016
Technique
Acrylic/Canvas
Dimensions
138 × 135 cm
Status
Available
Palette
ultramarine blue, bubblegum pink, stellar yellow, emerald green, carmine red
Brushwork
Textured and opaque brushstroke combined with sharp graphic outlines and dense impastos.

Curatorial analysis

A pair of enormous, concentric eyes holds the magnetic core of this sidereal journey. Inside a helmet inscribed with the name "LUCAS I," a scaly green creature drifts through the vastness, suspended between wonder and serene estrangement. The space suit, foreign to any technical sobriety, unfolds into a vibrant chromatic celebration of bubblegum pink, lilac, and red piping, transforming the rigidity of exploration gear into a playful, almost textile garment.

The pictorial surface vibrates through a deliberate opposition between background and figure. A deep ultramarine blue, flecked with diffuse nebulae and golden star dust, serves as the stage for a constellation of sharp-edged yellow stars that seem cut out against the canvas. In contrast to the graphic flatness of these decorative celestial bodies, the astronaut's body gains volume through dense, modulated brushwork. From the suit's extremities emerge bright green, amphibious webbed limbs, articulated with swift strokes that suggest aquatic movement inside the gravitational void.

An undulating ribbon, rendered in carmine and pale pink tones, travels along the right flank of the canvas like a cosmic umbilical cord, reinforcing the rising diagonal that energizes the scene. This linear path balances the visual weight of the helmet and accentuates the sensation of weightlessness. The piece poses a visual fable where the solitude of the cosmos is deactivated by humor and tenderness: space exploration ceases to be a cold technological milestone to become an intimate game of monumental scale, where a hybrid being navigates the universe with an open, disarming gaze.

Lucas en Órbita

More works by Carlos Tapia

153 works

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View all 153 works by Carlos Tapia

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