Light has been the source of exploration for Venezuelan artist Maria Bouquet. Following her “En-Lighten” series of mixed media light installations, Bouquet continues to captivate viewers with her newest work. In “la claridad”, the Spanish word for “brightness” or “clarity”, Bouquet invites further reflection on light.

Her work is smart. It’s both abstract and representational. It recalls the minimalism and post- painterly abstraction of Frank Stella. It finds inspiration from nature such as, hexagons that give shape to the cells in a honeycomb or the stratification of stone in the earth’s crust.

Bouquet’s newest work mimics a matrix of floating shapes that generate seemingly infinite spaces of color. Organized in a grid of jewel-toned color through natural geometrical patterns, Bouquet’s work is designed to alter the play of light and intercept conventional understandings of visual perception through the theater of a light box. Here is where Bouquet’s greatest strength lies: in the vivacity of color modulations stemming from the variegated mylar sheets illuminated by various modes of the LED light. The rhythms and variations stimulate the optic nerve generating an internal perceptive experience. It temporarily suspends the flow of external stimuli thereby lending the viewer a fuller, richer visual and existential encounter of the visible light spectrum.

Throughout her career, Bouquet has infused her imagery with the substance of her quiet yet astute visual language. Each light box or ensemble invites contemplation as the viewer engages with the changing color fields, watching as circles or rectangles seem to emerge from or eclipse the backdrop of light. Visual sensations transform into eloquent rhythmic patterns. Monotony surrenders to meditation transporting the viewer into unchartered precincts of rich vistas and dense reservoirs of vivid color.