MARIPOSA SIESTA by Randy Shull
Randy Shull has been working with the color palette and use of space that was very much part of the legendary architect Luis Barragán and his unique language.
The series Mariposa Siesta was created to be shown at Alejandra Topete Gallery in Mexico City during Art Week 2024.
"With this opportunity I’ve chosen to be in conversation with the color palette and use of space that was very much part of the legendary architect Luis Barragán and his unique language. The work has evolved into two part paintings with the hammock and its draping structure supporting the two panels. It seemed logical to think of them as butterfly references, for a number of reasons. Certainly the two part panels have a winglike appearance, but also, I like the reference to metamorphosis.
The hammock and the butterfly are something special within Mexico and I like playing with possibilities and connections that the work reveals. Some things I think about: the idea and experience of weightlessness that one feels in a hammock and how to communicate that through the use of color and materials. I enjoy working with a form and utilitarian object that is Pre-Hispanic and adding an intervention that transforms that object in a simple way into an abstract painting. Metamorphosis through action. I compose the work and paint on the floor in a large space in the historic center of Merida, and the hammocks are sourced from a particular tienda that has been in Merida for 66 years."
