Christopher Rivera
Banana Postage
Chris is a New York native currently residing in Tallahassee, Florida. He received his BFA with a focus in painting from the University of Central Florida and is currently a MFA candidate at Florida State University. Rivera was a participant and curator of City Arts Factory: A Memory Wingding showed work Anita S. Wooten Gallery and was invited to show work at Daytona State College. This body of work draws inspiration from the natural world to create intimate moody scenes for the viewer to ruminate. The work uses traditional still life objects such as fruit and skeletons to examine complex color and light relations. The natural objects serve as a means to study the actual subject which is how light falls on the items, how color affects the light, and how the handling of paint can inform this interaction. When organizing the composition of the work, design is at the forefront of consideration. Design practices like, "the rule of thirds'' help to create dynamic compositions. An understanding of form and shape allow me to better manipulate the picture plain and imply illusions of depth. Possibly the most important design related aspects of the work is the application of color theory.