Rayuela is a series of artworks that is closely related to Wheel within a Wheel.  It began around 2005.  I was immersed in Geometric Abstraction at that point.  This series I titled Rayuela as the Spanish term for Hopscotch.  The forms were loosely reminiscent of the chalk design and related to childhood years.  Though in Venezuela, where I am from and grew up, it is called “semana”.  But, Rayuela as a term had the benefit of reflecting the artistic meaning I wanted.  Rayas in Spanish are lines and that is what these paintings contain – lines and childhood memories.

As a child, I lived in San Antonio de los Altos, a town just outside Caracas.  One of my fondest recollections were the field trips we did to Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofia Imber  with my classmates from La Escuela Communitaria. We walked through wonderful exhibits that included works by Carlos Cruz-Diez, Alejandro Otero and Jesus Soto’s Penetrable.

Today these iconic works and institutions are in disarray.  I read a blog recently that captured well the transformation of Caracas’ cultural legacy.  It is painful to see and hard to comprehend.

My artworks may reflect some of this tension — my love of Venezuela and how treasured my childhood memories have become, while observing from abroad (in “exile”) a heartbreaking decline and deconstruction of an immeasurably valuable cultural legacy.

Rayuela 1, Watercolor/Gouache, 5 in x 20 in, 2005

Rayuela 2, Watercolor/Gouache, 10 in x 8 in, 2005

Rayuela 3, Watercolor/Gouache, 10 in x 8 in, 2005

Rayuela 4, Watercolor/Gouache, 5 in x 15 in, 2005

Rayuela 5, Watercolor/Gouache, 5 in x 15 in, 2005