Mood Congruence
Mood Congruence features artists Iqi Qoror, Nilraya Bundasak, Sebastian Riffo Montenegro, and Elise Remender. These contemporary figurative artists cast varying reflections on the solid identity of the individual, social placement, personality, and self awareness. Through adornment, Romanticism, and Surrealism, they forge paths of inquiry. From different parts of the world, these contemporary works coalesce a visual sense of what it means to belong and how such belonging affects the individual.
Iqi Qoror’s greatest strengths is his distinctive mixed media Surrealism. Qoror’s combination of different media merges not only different art practices such as painting and embroidery, but past and present as well. The combination of modern expressionistic style with pops of color render his artwork unforgettably visceral. This blend of portraiture, pop-textiles and surrealistic imagery invokes curiosity, confusion, and a playful connection with our contemporary world. Qoror frequently tackles issues of self identification and reflection, offering a mysterious and sardonic portrait of human nature.
Inspired by contemporary fashion, Nilraya Bundasak’s colorful textile paintings celebrate adornment and individuality through the application of fabric and embroidery to canvas. Inspired by the beauty and uniqueness that fashion offers, as well as the emotional dynamism of femininity, she creates large scale works resplendent with bright luxurious fabrics and detailed stitching. Her work is a catalogue of evolving trends, but also highlights environmental consciousness. Bundasak’s works approach recycling and sustainable garment use.
Sebastian Riffo Montenegro's paintings refer directly to Walter Benjamin’s theory of mechanical reproducibility, which defines our existing consumer society. Montenegro’s paintings act as a catalyst for criticism towards the subconscious consumption of images. Absence of elements in his work paradoxically presents clear criticism of current social mores. Through pictorial allegories, the paintings provoke the need to discern new meaning and awaken the tacit human condition of free will.
Inspired by the lack of vegetation in her native Phoenix, Arizona, painter Elise Remender began to create surreal portraits of paradise. Seeking to recapture the elegance and beauty from bygone eras, Remender indulges in her love of Old Hollywood glamour. With figures turned away in a demure landscape of desserts, Remender's work evokes a bygone era of dusted sunlight and lush waterfront escapism.
