Artist Profile: Andrea Reyes

Momento #6, Image Courtesy of the Artist 

Andrea Reyes is the featured artist at Provenance Gallery in August. Please join us on August 13 for the opening reception. You can see more of her work at www.andreareyesart.com or by following her on instagram @andreaa.reyes.

Read on to learn more about her work and influences.

Detail, Tacto #7, Image Courtesy of the Artist 

 What are some of the influences on your work and artistic practice?
I find myself influenced by children, especially when they experiment with materials for the first time and expressions of contentment and astonishment reflect on their faces. I am also influenced by the beauty of corrosion, peeled paint, plants, or any kind of texture that is rough (or smooth), porous, and colorful. I am intrigued to touch different textures any time I see them. 

What drives you as an artist? What are you passionate about that you're able to express through your art? 

The idea that art is full of surprises and has endless possibilities of how materials can be utilized, and the random occurrences being a probability of accident, change, and chance in my artwork. 

Momento #10, Image Courtesy of the Artist 

Tell me about your current projects. 

I am planning in creating larger pieces where I can create different experiences; probably create a bigger physical contact experience between the viewer and the painting to feel that moment of awe when observing the painting. Simply, just continue creating art with deeper experimentation, self-discovery, and by exploring boundaries. 

Where you do find inspiration? 

I find inspiration in being in a state of mind where the unconsciousness of things that I see, skim, observe, and touch in my ordinary life. I want my hands and the materials to speak by themselves, having moments of spontaneity and impulsiveness, focusing in the process of creation and trust.

Tacto #9, Image Courtesy of the Artist 

Which artists do you admire most, and why? 

I truly admire Tom Friedman; his work is about everyday material in a way that art can be made out of anything. He makes the ordinary look unordinary. Friedman is one of those artists that when I look over his artwork I am like “Damn! Why didn’t I think of that first?” Other artists that I have total admiration for are Pia Fries, Liza Lou, Jonathan Lasker, Sheila Hicks, Leslie Wayne, Brice Marden, Yayoi Kusama, and Nick Cave. They all depict ideas of infinity, the impossibility of perfection, and relations between consciousness and unconsciousness.