Salvadoran-American artist John Rivas holds close to ancestry and cultural identity in his work. In raw, expressive scenes of loved ones, domestic life, childhood memories, and familial histories, Rivas aims his art-making through a deeply personal lens, honoring the work and voices of those closest. His practice has long been characterized by material resourcefulness and a necessity-driven approach that layers found fabrics, drygoods, heirlooms, embroidery, gifted materials, household supplies, and painting into earnest, sensitive representations of the people and places around him. In his newest exhibition Rise above it, Rivas expands on his familiar mixed-media vocabulary, venturing into hand-carved and painted wooden sculpture as an extension of the assemblage-based language of his practice. Inspired by redwood carvings in Northern California and global traditions of polychrome wooden sculpture, the eleven works that comprise the exhibition bring to life Rivas's subjects and his enduring painterly interests in labor and cultural celebration. ...
