DANIELA RIVERA, MFA 06 – Accidental Memling Gul

DANIELA RIVERA, MFA 06
Accidental Memling Gul

360 h x 144 w

DESCRIPTION: oil on un-stretched canvas, installation. Part of the piece should go on the floor, a hybrid, a blend of cultural and historical elements that doesn’t respect its original sources. Its painted sky brings to mind the artifice of baroque strategies for the transformation of interior spaces. The introduction of the Memling rug into the carefully painted sky looks like it could be a spill or a splash. With this gesture, I blend traditions, histories, times, and meanings as if by “accident.” The piece was specifically planned to cover the entire exhibition wall and unfold onto the floor determining the circulation of visitors in the space. My intention was to create a sort of backdrop and allow for the visitors to participate and complete the image. Accidental Memling Gul is a continuation of my work with the accidental skies and adds a political and historical dimension to the already present psychological implications. This particular Memling rug was used in many of Hans Memling’s paintings including, among others, La Vierge à l’Enfant entre saint Jacques et saint Dominique and on St John Altarpiece

ARTIST STATEMENT: My work tangos with the process of baroque painting techniques and the presentational strategies and formal undertones of minimalist art, a contradiction in many ways but a world of possibilities for staging.