CHRISTOPHER RIVERA

Man Child

In this painting series, the artist examines his fascination with the imaginative outlet toys provided to his childhood. As an only child in a single-parent household, Rivera draws from the hours spent in his formative absorbed by playing with action figures and watching Gumby reruns with his mother. The work references late 20th and early 21st-century imagery that has been written off as commodity. The painting is done in the tradition of still-life, which both brings focus to the quotidian of the area and acts as a snapshot of the past.