Eckstrom-Columbus Library invites you to an exhibit by local artist Angela Soliz, on display until February 28, 2026.
Artist Statement:
As an artist, I contribute to the project of human dignity through the exploration of self-liberation. My focus is on creating vibrant energetic work that celebrates life, nature and imagination.
My goal is to capture the essence of ecstatic joy, in visual form. I have known feelings of profound extreme despair, grief, loss, heartbreak, shame and apathy but I had forgotten their opposites.
Painting is my way to articulate wonder, joy, radical acceptance and other intense high sensation emotions that are avoided and subjugated. In this way, the act of painting is the practice of freedom. An exploration into the embodiment of ecstatic joy.
I use the language of the desert of Southern Arizona and my visual vocabulary is also heavily influenced by my travels, my Xicano heritage and the cultural practice of magical realism.
I don't pre-plan my paintings, it’s more about what develops as I get lost in a delicious sea of color and thick acrylic paint.
I am an intuitive painter. I start with a blank canvas and prepare the surface with modelling paste or clay, creating a textural foundation. Then comes a selection of colors that have chosen to be there. I follow my intuition, I follow the color with anticipation. The composition is revealed one stroke at a time. The drama unfolds as design principles and color reflect that natural rhythms of this planet and the reality that many things can be true simultaneously. I am always asking inward for each next choice and placement and shape. There is no wrong answer, no wrong move. Instead, it is a constant practice of staying curious, delighted and full of wonder in the present moment.
I like to think each painting carries the energetic vibration of this joy and I hope that my paintings may remind you (the viewer) of your own child-like wonder, courage, inner divinity and your right to dignity.
Images courtesy of the artist
