Peruvian-born, Rosa Vera grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and in Latin America. She studied and worked in international finance and economics for years before turning to painting. She is now an award-winning artist who paints in acrylics, encaustics, watercolor, mixed media and oils. She currently lives between Bethesda, Maryland and Lima, Peru. Rosa has exhibited in national shows including the National Arts Club, the National Watercolor Society, International Society for Experimental Artists (ISEA), Watercolor USA, and The Art League of Alexandria. She has had numerous solo shows both in the U.S. and in Latin America.
Rosa has won a number of prizes both locally and throughout the U.S. Her work is in private collections in the US and internationally, as well as in the permanent collection of the National Institutes of Health. Her paintings have appeared in books, newspapers and other publications.
STATEMENT
For me art is an expression of my past: of being taken from country to country as a child, being bicultural and bilingual, and adjusting to different environments. But it is also an expression of the present as I now live between Peru and the States. I convey this experience through paintings, installation boxes and assemblages. Although the message is often serious, I want the work to be playful.
My painting style is expressive and my subjects are mostly figures, silhouettes and landscapes. In the figure paintings, women are often the subject. These works are in acrylic paint or paint combined with collage of fabric or paper. In my 'close up' and landscape paintings, the close ups depict the intimate connection of plants and flowers to the larger landscape of the environment. My concern is that as wetlands and sea shores are affected by climate change these features of our environment become more dear. Part of my exploration is human interaction with their natural surroundings.
My work is strongly influenced by fiction, newspapers, poetry or the art of others, such as Richard Diebenkorn, and other artists of the Bay Area figurative painters of the 1950's. In addition, so many of today's issues, immigration and the role of women in both societies have had an impact on many of my pieces.
