NUWAVE MAYAN

NUWAVE MAYAN: A VISUAL LANGUAGE CONNECTING ANCIENT ANCESTRY TO THE NEW WAVE OF OUR GENERATION.

RUBY BARRIENTOS IS A FIRST-GENERATION SALVADORAN AMERICAN ARTIST BORN AND RAISED IN RENO, NEVADA. A SELF-TAUGHT, MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST, THEIR PRACTICE SPANS DRAWING, PAINTING, SCULPTURE, INSTALLATIONS, PERFORMANCE, AND PUBLIC ART. THEY HAVE EXHIBITED AT THE NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART, HOLLAND PROJECT, UNR’S SHEPPARD CONTEMPORARY, LILLEY MUSEUM, AND NUWU ART GALLERY, AMONG OTHERS. BARRIENTOS’ DEEP COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS EVIDENT IN THEIR EXHIBITIONS, TALKS, AND PUBLIC ART, WHICH INVITE DIALOGUE AROUND BUILDING MORE INCLUSIVE, EQUITABLE FUTURES. 

BARRIENTOS CHANNELS THEIR CULTURAL ROOTS INTO A VISUAL LANGUAGE THEY CALL NUWAVE MAYAN. THIS STYLE AIMS TO CHALLENGE AND REIMAGINE DOMINANT NARRATIVES THROUGH A DECOLONIAL LENS WHICH BLENDS THEIR SALVADORAN AND MAYAN HERITAGE, EXPRESSIVE LINE WORK, AND STORYTELLING TO EXPLORE IDENTITY, QUEERNESS, DIASPORA, MIGRATION, ANCESTRY, RESISTANCE, AND LIBERATION. 

INFLUENCED BY ARTISTS LIKE JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, LUIS BERMÚDEZ, CANNUPA HANSKA LUGER, GUADALUPE MARAVILLA, AND THE VISUAL TRADITIONS OF MAYAN CULTURE, BARRIENTOS’ PRACTICE EMBRACES EXPERIMENTATION, INTUITIVE MARK-MAKING, AND CULTURAL MEMORY AS TOOLS THAT WEAVE TOGETHER PERSONAL NARRATIVE, CULTURAL RECLAMATION, FUTURISM, AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY. THEIR WORK RESISTS ERASURE BY CENTERING RITUAL, RELATIONALITY, AND CULTURAL RESTORATION. THROUGH NUWAVE MAYAN, THEY EXPLORE NAVIGATING POSTCOLONIAL REALITIES AND OFFER A DECOLONIAL VISION THAT CONNECTS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.