ABOUT

“Resin, in the way that I use it, has its own personality. I test its boundaries and it gives me just enough room for manipulation, but in the end it tends to have a mind of its own. Most important to me is the ability to  play with it in the process. ” 

- Luis Raul Poveda - 

Poveda is known for his conceptual and multidisciplinary approach. His mastery of  color and unique methods of resin casting  were first introduced in his wall hanging sculptures series (2014), where his human figure and other conceptual forms are presented as abstracted silhouettes surfacing beneath layers of resin. 

Using long PVC tubes to breathe h e submerged himself underneath blankets o f uncured epoxy poured over plastic, as they  heated and cured over his body for hours. An homage to his childhood psyche a s well  as the blankets he once used to create the  forts he once played in where he allowed his imagination to run wild . 

Before the hype of resin art in the  mainstream and social media, Poveda wanted to use resin in ways that really spoke to the nature of the material and its curing process.

“It’s science but it's also very physical. Breathing and control are part of the process . It challenges my body as well  as my mind. ” 

Poveda’s oversized gradient paintings serve  as backdrops into the converted gallery  spaces he created which represented his  childhood bedroom . Through the writing's on  the wall , he draws insight into his struggles  with sexuality , religion and more while at  the same time never neglecting the fun, joy and innocence of being a child through his use of color. His resin sculptures drape and  wrap objects to emulate forms that express  his thoughts, ideas, and experiences in the  most abstract and colorfully saturated ways. His elaborate installations combine various  materials such as copper, wood, and L.E.D. lighting. 

Poveda tackles contemporary psychosocial  issues that deal with interpersonal and  cultural concepts. He deconstructs his  subject matter to its simplest form and designs his work using aesthetic qualities  that stimulate and imply a premeditated  playfulness with the work. His fabricated creations suggest toy like qualities without  the pristine finish of new age technology . 

“Some people enjoy very literal and realistic art , they can't see a body unless  they see the details of fingers and toes .  Some people enjoy very abstract work where  you need to truly search for the figures if  they even exist . I’m somewhere in between  but I don’t really care about that stuff”. 

Performance art is an element that adds to  the drama of the work. While his  sculptures, paintings, and installations  stand firmly on their own, performance is  his way of pushing the boundaries from  being artist/creator to living art which is,  as Poveda describes, “the heart of his entire show”.