The pieces that we can see in the exhibition come from the lived experiences of the Cuban artist Rachel Valdés from Cuba in the 90s. Her work is full of architectural and geometric references where perspective takes over elements reminiscent of those pools culled from her memories.
“I think somehow these patterns are stuck in my subconscious to this day. What I draw resembles inverted pyramids, archaeological remains of buildings and cities that I once dreamed of and even explored. I meticulously remember almost all its details, straight lines from one end to the other to emphasize its rationalist architectural roots. I represent these images, which are part of my imagination, to bring the viewer closer to that state of perception that I want to experience and share”.
Rachel Valdés.
In the exhibition we perceive doses of figuration-abstraction ambiguity, "it interests me as a possibility to disturb, as an argument for improvised stories or to suggest narratives suspended in the air and that now have a specific weight", the artist points out. "Pools, as almost urban elements, paradoxically underlie the intimacy of my dreams. They are attached to my spectrum of formal obsessions such as pyramids, walls, labyrinths, architecture in general: all components of my journeys inside and outside myself".
The artist uses drawing and watercolour because her study of gouache perspectives and her colour allows her the freedom to approach a practically archaeological point of view. He became known internationally with large immersive installations and giant abstract paintings, but in Piscinas, Valdés returns to drawing and watercolour.
“Drawing for me has always been the basis of everything. When developing an idea, I start with sketches and previous drawings. Let's say that perspective, mathematical calculation and the staging of a three-dimensional form within a two-dimensional space, are something that has fascinated me since the beginning of my studies. That idea of creating optical illusions through a surface. I think that this dichotomy that I always try to connect in my general discourse arises from there, that relationship between the material world and the immaterial world, the objective of the subjective, the physical and tangible, together with the opposite”.
Rachel Valdés.
"Piscina azul profundo" by Rachel Valdés, 2023. Watercolor on cardboard (188 x 130 cm). Image courtesy of Rachel Valdés.
It wants to arouse the viewer's curiosity and seek the need to know beyond what is seen with the naked eye. The interpretation of those who see the works helps to finish the history of the art that is created, Valdés leaves the way for the perception of the one who sees it.
«That feeling of not finishing the story, or like at any moment it can have a completely unexpected ending. With my sculptures, and also with the series of drawings that I present in this exhibition, I like to leave an open path for perception and interpretation».
Rachel Valdés.
