* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Luisa Rivera is a London-based artist and illustrator originally from Santiago, Chile. She has worked with clients such as The New York Times, Variety Magazine, Air Canada, Modern Farmer, Middlebury Magazine, Yale Environment 360, Women Who Farm, Brigitte MOM, Transparency International UK, Oxford American, Deloitte, La Guarimba Film Festival, La Peste magazine, LAN airlines, UVA magazine, among others. Luisa has published four picture books, the most recent one being La Pimpinela Escarlata published by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial in 2016. Other illustrated books include Trenzas, Breviario Mínimo and Subterra, published by Liberalia Ediciones.
Luisa explains her work by saying, “Most of my work is done with water-based paints, such as acrylic, watercolor, gouache and ink. Usually, I use paper as a support, although in my newest work I have also been employing cardboard and wood. My paintings are characterized by bold, flat colors and simplification of forms. However, I combine this visual language with highly detailed and realistic surfaces in order to establish different hierarchies in each composition. The use of symbolic content is very important in my work because for me it’s a way of reinforcing the overall idea of each painting. Mainly, I communicate symbolic meaning through natural, botanical, and animal imagery. The layering of symbols and representations often provide a combination of fantasy and surrealism to my paintings. The main focus of my work is nature and our relationship with it throughout history. I am interested in the contrast or gap between our primal connection to all natural things and how we have divided ourselves from that, especially in Western culture. Within this context, my work becomes a reflective and introspective space to track those lost connections, in which I make use of folk culture, stories and mythology (either existent or created by myself) to create narratives.”
