Barrio Escalante, San José

Visits by appointment only

Schedule a visit (opens the scheduler)
Suite Brazil-Amazona, by Paulina Ortíz. A deep, dense ultramarine blue supports the scene, flecked with tiny pale speckles that suggest both a starry sky and the humid, spore-laden air of a tropical understory.

Paulina Ortíz

Suite Brazil-Amazona

Year
1994
Technique
Screen Print
Dimensions
60 × 45 cm
Status
Available
Palette
petrol blue, leaf green, purplish fuchsia, light yellow, black
Brushwork
Flat planes of uniform silkscreen color intersected by fluid calligraphic lines, chromatic misregistrations, and ink splatters.

Curatorial analysis

A deep, dense ultramarine blue supports the scene, flecked with tiny pale speckles that suggest both a starry sky and the humid, spore-laden air of a tropical understory. Above this static yet vibrant ground rise plant forms that elude any rigid taxonomy: elastic stems, fleshy lobes, and synthetic corollas that seem to float or ascend in an almost aquatic weightlessness.

The visual structure is governed by a network of black, sinuous, calligraphic lines that do not merely define contours but act as an independent nervous system. These lines branch, drip, and cast small splatters across the surface, lending the plane a rhythmic cadence rich in gestural freedom. There is a deliberate asymmetry in weight: toward the left, a broad, substantial blossom in carmine anchors the eye, while in the center and right the stems stretch upward in vertical undulations toward the top of the frame.

The chromatism is simultaneously restrained and electric. Flat fields of apple green, luminous yellow, and violet-tinged fuchsia clash directly with the background blue, generating an optical illusion of relief and phosphorescence. The serigraphic medium, known for flat inks and clean edges, is subverted by the apparent spontaneity of spatters and the subtle misalignment of contours, where color either bleeds past or pulls back from the black ink.

Rather than a faithful botanical study, the image offers a dreamlike synthesis of plant exuberance. In this schematic, buoyant jungle, each flower and leaf behaves as an organism endowed with its own pulse, suspended in a moment where the Amazonian night unveils its most luminous, secretive energy.

Suite Brazil-Amazona

Similar works

By subject, palette and style

Message the gallery on WhatsApp

Cookies

We use cookies to learn how the site is used and to show the gallery's ads on other platforms. They are only turned on if you accept them.