Lucia Enriquez - Artist Statement

My work deals with the mutable and elusive nature of perception. I am a conceptualist in that I use mapping and pattern synthesis to arrive at novel connections in subject matter. I am also an expressionist in that I am drawn to atmospheric and emotionally evocative surfaces.

My art is influenced by the symbols of Hindu and Buddhist art, Pop and Post-modern juxtaposition and cross-cultural transformation. The sources of my imagery--weather, maps, grids, scaffolding, anatomies, landscapes, calligraphy and wing forms--are chosen because they are resonant in themselves and because they also suggest systems of knowledge and connection. I subject these images to dichotomies of meaning. My goal is to arrive at what Buddhists call the "subtle body," a physical manifestation that on the outside seems substantial, but through informed perception breaks down into organic, associative and transparent channels of energy.

I have been working in acrylic and more recently, encaustic. In encaustic I am able to combine aspects of printmaking, drawing, painting and collage in a lush, unified surface. The combination works well as a way to portray abrupt shifts of reality and to introduce serendipity in found material and information. But perhaps more important, encaustic's roots in an ancient funerary practice contributes to its strength as a medium for responding to the human condition. As such it provides an organic base for my ideas.

Resume

Education

1994 BA Comparative History of Ideas, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

1988 BFA Printmaking, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Exhibitions

• 1998 P.I. (Made in America), Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA

• 1996 Beyond the Rock Garden, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA

• 1996 Eight Ethnic Artists, Seattle Central Community College Gallery, Seattle, WA

• 1995 Folie a Deux, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA

• 1995 Shambhala Art Festival, Shambhala Center, Seattle, WA

• 1995 Mixed Fruits and Nuts, We B Gallery, Seattle, WA

• 1995 Oktubre: 4 Artista, Parrington Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

• 1995 ArtWalk Exhibition, Harrison Street Gallery, Seattle, WA

• 1994 The Bridge Show, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA

• 1993 Crossings, National Juried Exhibition, Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Seattle, WA

• 1993 Northwest AIDS Foundation Benefit Show, Seattle, WA

• 1992 12th Northwest International Art Competition, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA

• 1992 Pacific Northwest Annual Art Competition, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA

• 1992 Pacific Northwest Annual, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA

• 1991 Bla, Bla, Bla, Warwick Gallery, Seattle, WA

• 1991 Heritage: an Exhibit of Art by Asian Americans, State Capitol Building, Olympia, WA

• 1988 School of Art Open, University of Washington, Seattle
  

• 1988 12 about 10 and Under, international print exchange, Mexico City, Mexico; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Irkutsk, Russia; Quezon City, Philippines

• 1987 Print Exhibit and Exchange, San Carlos, La Escuela National de Artes Plasticas, Mexico City, Mexico