Ana Archer

I am a Brazilian artist living and working in Houston, Texas.

Most of my works have some degree of abstraction. The more abstract are entirely unplanned - I start with two or three colors on a blank canvas, and let them lead me. When I begin a piece I have no idea where it will finish. My inspiration is purely in color, its union with shape and texture, and the multitude of exquisite juxtapositions that each trigger a visceral response. I am always seeking something new - a color combination, a texture, a scale, a composition that satisfies my desire for novelty.

My style can best be described as impasto - applying thick, undiluted color directly from the tube and mixing it on the canvas, for which I use a variety of tools including brushes, palette knives, and squeegees. I prefer acrylics to oil paints, as I work rapidly and find them better suited to my pace. For similar reasons I prefer large canvases - they provide me freedom to move around the painting and offer an additional scale of interaction beyond the square inch and the square foot.