Paula Barragan

Available Works

Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) is the first exhibition at Davidson Galleries of works by Equadorian artist Paula Barragan, and consists of over twenty intaglio prints made in the past ten years. The artist takes profound pleasure in the process of discovery that occurs while she is making art, whether it is drawing, painting or making prints. In her intaglio prints, Barragan creates rich, textured surfaces, reminiscent of woven textile patterns, using an open-bite process that deeply etches the plate. The translucency of the thin Japanese handmade paper that she prints on gives the work a luminous quality. Her images range from abstract patterns that one might see in nature, such as the swirl on a snail shell or the angular lines of an animal’s rib cage, to crude folk-like drawings of humans and creatures. Barragan feels that her images express life situations and stories, the lines and color reflect delight and misfortune in every moment.

Paula Barragan received her BFA at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She also studied printmaking and painting in San Francisco and Paris. Barragan’s work has been exhibited throughout South America, Spain, Germany and New York. Her work can be found in the Museum of the Central Bank of Ecuador and in many private collections.