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ARTIST STATEMENT
TOMORROWLAND TODAY
PATRICIA'S STUDIO
Photo by: Karina Marie Diaz
ARTIST BIO
Patricia Araujo was born in Miami, Fl, the daughter of Colombian parents. Patricia grew up in Bogota, Colombia, and lived there until the age of 19. Patricia began drawing at a very young age, and always intrigued by architecture and form. Her father worked as an architect at Walt Disney, and during his last years he assisted with the development of Epcot Center. After completing High School in Bogota, Patricia moved to Northern California and studied Architecture at the College of San Mateo. In 1997, she obtained her first B.F.A in Painting and Photography at Notre Dame de Namur University. After graduation that year, Patricia relocated to San Francisco. In 2005, she completed her second B.F.A in Painting, from the San Francisco Art Institute.
Patricia's diligence, intuition and intellectual capacity have all fused into a corpus of work which is inventive, original and well realized. Patricia has a particular sensitivity to the forms and spaces of architecture and produces works relating to those forms which function as physical embodiments of philosophical and psychological conditions. Her interest in researching the urban landscape continues to grow, addressing the evolution and decay within a city. Patricia continues to deepen her conceptual themes on architecture, place and change in the urban landscape.
Patricia has been exhibiting in San Francisco since 1998. Araujo's work has been written about in the San Francisco Chronicle, ARTslant, Beyondchron, and in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Patricia published her first book in 2008, entitled, SOMA SEEN, “Paintings and Drawings by Patricia Araujo of the South of Market Architecture”. Patricia lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
ARTIST STATEMENT
It is through two main routes that I explore notions which fascinate me, the singular iconic structure coupled with multiple environmental abstractions. My work explores a main theme: urbanscapes, which are both factual accounts and at the same time fictionalized fantasies, and symbolic. I am primarily involved with the study of forms and the study of facades. In addition, I move beyond the surface into the supporting structure, in which are found Western notions of harmonies, proportion, and the mathematical aesthetics that are the foundations of this expression. Amongst those aspects of the language of architecture that appeal to me is the arch and the dome. Within architecture is both the mystery and utility of geometry. Architecture symbolizes beyond the structure alone. The aesthetics and socio-political possibilities of temples, cathedrals, theatres, municipal buildings, are celebrated structures which recognize the role of social and ritual. In the secular world too, there are also examples of architectural structures which amplify, magnify and otherwise celebrate both power and strength - an arena where visions and beliefs and ideologies are metamorphosed into the concrete. As an artist, my foundation is with both the real and the abstract, and the connotations of the structures that are our cities. Aspects of time, infinity, eternity, all form part of my inquiry.
I've devoted my time to painting architecture of San Francisco's SoMa & Mid-Market districts as I lived for 10 years in the booming heart of this re-developing area, yet not limited to this fine city. My recent works relate to SoMa, abandoned and iconic landmarks, buildings undergoing renovation, and new visions within the urban landscape. In my cityscapes, I sense the presence of the silent stage uninterrupted by inhabitants. There is both silence and suspension. Even in the light there is a sense of being suspended between the certainty of day and the doubt at night. My inspiration is mirrored by the presence of sublime spaces. The profound or spectacular can reside within the humble, not only the glamorous or veneered. It is both. Notions of timelessness, ideas and ideals, the ordinary and the fantastic are encountered in the imaginative moments. The everyday gets transformed by attention, by paying attention and through the practice of painting. I endeavor to poetize the ordinary and to turn acts of the imagination into facts of the imagination in the hope that I give account of the innate potential for mystery and the otherwise invisibility born of familiarity.
My new developing series of paintings, titled Tomorrowland Today, present imaginary facades inspired by futuristic, classical and industrial architecture to form a new city. The buildings painted include circus arenas, coliseums, citadels, and roller coasters. This series was developed by re-discovering photographs of structures seen online and of places I’ve visited. Through the creative process, I paint an invented landscape in which each edifice is a monumental being part of a new frontier.
During my youth, I visited Disney World every summer, as my dad was an architect working there, I was immersed by the magic and wonder of such special place. I continue to be captivated by Disney’s futuristic theme park of Tomorrowland, and in particular by the building design and magnificent function of Space Mountain ride - an American icon for kids and adults. I see some correlation with this ride to another venue, a circus arena situated in the city of Dnepr, Ukraine, in terms of design aesthetics, and its function as an entertainment arena. Dnipropetrovsk, also known as Dnepr, has been the major center of the steel industry from the beginning of the 20th century until the present. It has also dominated in the machine-building and aero-spacebuilding industry since the 1950s. Through researching about the city of Dnepr and its circus, I created my own interpretation of the building, seen as a spaceship. This spaceship becomes the link between each painting as it will appear throughout the series. Other buildings give form to this city, combining old and new constructions, uniting a vision of utopia and futurism seen in contemporary time.
CONTACT Patricia for any inquiries and other information.
Email: Torre13us@yahoo.com
Tel: (415) 310-7027
"Heart of the City/SOMA SEEN", ARTslant, dated January 28th, 2009, Review by Wilma Parker
"Resuscitating the Heart of San Francisco", SF Chronicle, by Heather Knight, dated December 24, 2008
"Heart of the City": Structures Built to Last", SF Chronicle, by Reyhan Harmanci, dated November 27th, 2008.
"Heart of the City", ArtBusiness.com, by Alan Bamberger, November 21st, 2008.
"Tenderloin CBD Gets New Office; Art Exhibit Tonight!", Beyondchron.org, by Paul Hogarth, November 21st, 2008.
"HEART OF THE CITY", SF BAY GUARDIAN BEST WEEKLY PICK, November 21st, 2008, by Michelle Broder Van Dyke
"DA Arts Paintings Selected for Bloomingdales' Opening", Beyondchron.org, by Randy Shaw, dated September 27th, 2006.
"Architecture for Bloomingdales - Patricia Araujo at DA Arts", Beyondchron.org, Review by Wilma Parker, dated September 7th, 2006.
