Rosa Arango’s artistic practice is rooted in narrative. Her paintings, prints, and drawings give form to themes such as the descent into the underworld, the witches’ sabbath, and witchcraft more broadly, within an aesthetic that may be described as magical realism.
Her work draws upon the logic of dreams and the apparent incoherence of colliding images in order to construct a visual proposition representative of the occult. Just as a dream is interpreted according to the constraints of a consciousness that has returned to itself, demonology is examined outside its own frame of reference.
Her aim is to erase any possible hierarchy between these two worlds—the occult and the real—and to suggest that the former is interpreted through the norms of the latter, which in turn prevents genuine access to it.
Confronting this kind of imagery, often perceived as violent within the collective imagination, is not necessarily easy. Her approach is therefore to employ vivid, even seductive colours, drawing the viewer into the work and ultimately holding, or even captivating, their attention.
Her research residencies in Riosucio, Colombia, and in Rome have enabled her, through encounters with researchers, archaeologists, and specialists, to conduct precise and in-depth investigations. These allow her to reinterpret deities with rare iconographies and to bring greater visibility to figures that have historically received little visual representation.
