Emerging Artist | Sergio Lopez

The figure in nature

Sergio Lopez, Elanis, oil, 20 x 30.

Sergio Lopez, Elanis, oil, 20 x 30.

This story was featured in the November 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art November 2012 print edition here, or purchase the Southwest Art November 2012 digital download here. Or simply subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!

For Northern California artist Sergio Lopez, nothing is more inspiring than the lines and gestures of the female form. “I want to convey my enjoyment of not just the female form but also the female spirit,” Lopez says. “I try to use women as a motif for relating inner ideas to the world.”

Since graduating from the Academy of Art University in 2006, Lopez has begun exploring his favorite subject matter in a number of sensual series titled Natural Patterns and Painted Roses, among others. His practice of creating works in a series came about by chance, Lopez says. It started when he painted a young woman in front of a wall covered in graffiti. That initial work spawned additional ideas incorporating the same theme. “It’s easy to keep a cohesive body of work and generate ideas with a series,” Lopez says.

Sergio Lopez, Gemini Molineux, oil, 12 x 30.

Sergio Lopez, Gemini Molineux, oil, 12 x 30.

Interestingly, Lopez is also a talented plein-air painter who never tires of discovering the natural wonders of his native Sonoma County. In the past several years he has won top awards at two California events, Paint San Clemente and Alameda En Plein Air. As this story was going to press, he was creating works for a group landscape show that opens this month at Christopher Queen Galleries in Duncans Mills, CA. The show, titled Yesterday and Today: A Fine Pair, features scenes of old California as seen through contemporary eyes.

Lopez is often able to combine his interests by exploring the figure in the wild landscape, he says. In ELANIS, a painting in the Natural Patterns series, he seamlessly brings together the two genres. “The underlying theme of Natural Patterns is how we relate to the environment around us, especially nature,” Lopez says. “In ELANIS, the patterns of the fabric meld into the background. I like to convey certain ideas behind what you just see in terms of technique. The focus is on the life force that everyone exudes and how to better understand it in the context of the natural world which surrounds us every day.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

representation
Christopher Queen Galleries, Duncans Mills, CA; themainloop.com.

Featured in the November 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art magazine November 2012 digital download
Southwest Art magazine November 2012 print edition
Or subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!


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