A distinctive wall sculpture crafted from papier-mâché, by Brazilian artist ADRIANA RIZKALLAH (b. 1962): an enormous concave disk—just under three feet in diameter—striped horizontally across its middle with a “tribal” graphic in high relief. The piece is a testimony to her fascination with the paradox of paper’s intrinsic fragility and its repurposed use as a modeling agent. Prioritizing sustainability for over 30 years, Rizkallah has perfected an exclusively recycled compound. She uses natural pigments and resins and employs techniques learned partly from Indigenous Brazilians. Inherently eco-friendly, her work’s objective is to make evident—and to play with—the many potentialities of surface art. Mounted to a black wooden box frame.

ADRIANA RIZKALLAH was born in São Paulo in 1962. She studied at the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), an important cultural center in that city and one of Brazil’s most prestigious universities, graduating in 1984 with a degree in the Fine Arts. She began her career with painting and subsequently taught briefly at St. Paul’s British International School. Since the 1990s, Rizkallah has been working almost exclusively in papier-mâché, producing experimental forms and large-scale installations comprising textured interior spaces. Her interest has always focused on the ambiguity between the lightness and delicacy of paper and its possibilities as raw material for sculpture. Currently, she has been incorporating copper into her work. Rizkallah owns an eponymous gallery in São Paulo.

Paper is possibility. – ADRIANA RIZALLAH

DETAILS

Artist – ADRIANA RIZALLAH (b. 1962)

Period/Year – 2007

Origin – BRAZIL

Styles/Movements – MODERNIST

Media – PAPIER-MÂCHÉ

Support – BOX MOUNT

Colors – ALMOND, TAUPE

Condition – Excellent vintage condition. May show minor signs of previous ownership and use.

Dimensions – 46 ¼" H × 46 ¼" W × 7" D