RF Alvarez
After the Minotaur, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 48"
Describe your artistic style in three words.
Archeological, abstract, and colorful
What's inspiring you right now?
The history of color.
What do you when you’re feeling uninspired?
Research. Dive into other artist's practice, read philosophy or archeological texts, learn.
Tell us something unique about your process.
I've been using natural earth pigments to blend my own paints.
What advice do you have for other artists right now?
Keep making.
Anything else you'd like to share?
I have a lot of process content from the past week.
View even more process from RF Alvarez by visiting his Instagram stories.
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- A look at my studio. I use this glass muller to blend pigments into my paints, which I jar and catalog like the Venetian Red you see there. I stretch all my own canvases, so my studio is full of raw wooden stretcher bars. And for the books: the left is Lives of the Artists written by Vasari in 1568 cataloging the work and lives of famous artists of the Renaissance. The right is a book of woodblock prints by Aristide Maillol.
- Raw ultramarine pigment, traditionally made from lapis lazuli. I mix it in studio with an acrylic base so I can paint directly onto raw canvas.
Lovers in Secret, 2020, raw earth pigment and acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18"
Mural from the Tomb of the Diver in Paestum, Italy – 5th century BC
(close up) Mural from the Tomb of the Diver in Paestum, Italy – 5th century BC
Murals such as the Tomb of the Diver serve as inspiration for my compositions, color choices, body forms. Also an early depiction of homosexual partnership.
Inspiration for color choice, subject matter. I incorporate laurels often in my work, in addition to human bodies. I love presenting a simplified, abstracted depiction of the relationship between the body and the natural world.
The Spring, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 32 x 48"
RF Alvarez explores the act of artifact-making in his work. Using disparate historical references, he draws from motifs and iconography to address issues of identity and culture, often including the intersection of text and image. His work focuses on how the documents of experiences can have their own tradition or heritage and how those heritages can reflect back onto the subject.
RF has participated as an artist in the West and East Austin Studio Tours, and was part of an eight person group show, Annual Report, highlighting artists from our 2018 programing in the Big Medium Gallery.