JULIETA BARRIOS

Julieta's work is closer to a botanical compendium than it seems: what at first glance are perceived as organic shapes organized in explosions of color hides a careful and dedicated contemplation, a kind of classification of the wildlife surviving in the human environment. Each piece could well correspond to a page or a copy from the traveling naturalist's cabinet, and is partly propitiated by parallel affections and motives: a fascination for what is observed, the desire to collect and catalogue, the need to show or say something about what is collected. In this sense, Julieta goes even further, since her compendiums are not what can be seen on the surface. Instead of the clarity or simplicity of a botanical compendium, Juliet's work requires us to make an effort to observe and distinguish; an effort that at first is not evident, just as we pass by innumerable specimens of flora and fauna in the vacant lots, walls and sidewalks of the city. Even in their monumental attempt to thrive in a hostile environment they become invisible, and it is thus that the patches of vibrant color in her work, also hide an evident variety and abundance of these species. It is a question not only of making visible all that daily biodiversity, but of reflecting the situation and perception that one has of it. There is also a correspondence of the techniques of the works with the diffuse limits of the mutual and incessant invasion between the human environment and wildlife. Technically, these pieces defy all classification and dance on the shores of uncertainty among various types of print, painting, and drawing techniques. While engraving is usually a starting point, the result is often so complex and laden with such a variety of masterfully employed methods that sometimes all that remains is to wave your arms and declare "mixed media." This is a wonderful example of such technical mastery that allows the artist to materialize any of her visions in any way she wishes. Ultimately, each piece is a world in itself, a microcosm that contains a unique testimony to hope, survival and life.