Curator’s foreword:
What does the desert give us? In this painting and the Instagram post that followed, Sofia Basto Riousse articulates visually and poetically her subtle interactions with nature, and its repercussions. Without context other than her Manigua Studio being based in Dubai, she shared her painting with the words “of how I got a green hand [while] living in the desert”. Sofia attributes to the desert the context, and perhaps responsibility, of placing her hand, and by extension her life in a state of landscape paradox: the desert as the giver of greenery, of her own greenery.
[of how I got a green hand living in the desert]
2021, 20x30cm, acrylic on canvas, curtsey of the artist
Llegando a esta región descubrí un paisaje de paletas terracotas, el verde de los paisajes conocidos empezó a solicitar presencia en mi cotidianidad y así empecé a aprender a cuidar plantas. He recreado una mini selva de interior en casa que de paso me ha llevado a aprender sobre especies locales. De ahí la conjunción de estos dos colores dominantes de los cuales me sirvo en esta pintura. La falta de un paisaje lejano, me llevó a descubrir más a fondo, por contraste, el paisaje local, abriéndome otra mirada a la botánica regional.
By arriving in this region I discovered a landscape of terracotta palettes. The green of landscapes [known to me] began requesting presence in my daily life, and that’s how I started taking care of plants. I have recreated an indoor mini jungle at home, which has also led me to learn about local species. From there comes the conjunction of the two dominant colors I employ in this painting. Missing a distant landscape led me to discover the local landscape more deeply, in turn opening up another insight into regional botanics.
_ Sofia Basto Riousse