We may think that life is about collecting a lot of different experiences through everyday living, but through the creative process of Overcoating, I found out that this life is not all about gaining knowledge. Ultimately, it is a matter of peeling away all the layers and having faith.
-Lourdes Salcedo Tavira
Lourdes Salcedo Tavira grew up in Spain and began showing a talent for drawing since she was a little girl, as she had a fondness of drawing on her homework, books, and even the family furniture. For years, she has been devoted to creating an Art Journal, in which she insists on using drawings to depict her journal entries. Captivated by a world where she could freely express her emotions and thoughts, she also sensitively observed a sense of twistedness in reality. Tavira is skilled in utilizing the power of colors, and together with her unique artistic vernacular, she expresses through her art her inner profound emotions and feelings, and from which she attempts to reach an actualization of her personal will.
Tavira’s artistic style is free and full of powerful vivid colors, which she uses to express life’s different experiences as well as her inner feelings. As an artist of great sensitivity, she possesses two very distinct creative attributes: on one hand, she shows a very positive way to approach life. No matter what obstacles are presented along the journey, life is still beautiful and we should always remain hopeful; on the other hand, she emphasizes, in a very ironic way, the reality of our society and probes at our so called happiness. She believes that people are used to being covered by layers and layers of beautiful colors that are self-inflicted or applied by others to make us believe that everything is just fine. However, perhaps this beautiful yet superficial veneer is a good depiction of the real life?
The exhibition, Overcoating, at MOCA Taipei will present 19 artworks by Tavira. Through the integration of her paintings and multimedia installations, she hopes to create a complex way of viewing and to profoundly explore her self-perception of good and evil. Furthermore, through viewing and reading from multiple perspectives, she hopes to incite the audience’s participation and contemplation. As in life, the subtle differences between the superficial and the internal will need to be experienced personally, in order to truly capture the essence of life.