Linda Arreola

My work has revolved around a belief that when things are at their most elemental, they reveal to us their essence. Energy, poetry, and glory, as well as mystery are innate to all things (natural and man-made). My interest has been in honoring the simple, the common, and the elemental. Rocks and branches have been recurring elements in my work. Symbolizing beauty and poetry in material form, they are the humble icons of a grand spirit. Their urban counterparts, found in the domestic and ordinary, have also been subjects in my work. Shoes, brooms, paintbrush, washboard, chair, each have been enshrined in my work.

With a background in sculpture and architecture my work has sought an order and three-dimensional quality from which I have developed the use of the "grid". It is the foundation, on which I build and layer my paintings. It suggests an interconnection between all things and is the vehicle that transmits spirit.

I believe there is a connection between the domestic and the sublime, the commonplace and the spiritual, and the material and the soul. This has been the nature of my work.

Self-Portrait-Head, mixed media on masonite, 12" x 12" 1998.

Magic, mixed media on masonite, 24" x 24"

Picture This, mixed media on masonite, 24" x 36",

West, mixed media on masonite, 24" x 36", 1998

Chair Series Acrylic on unstretched canvas, 26" x 72", 1998