[Andrés Rave](https://www.cohart.com/arave/profile), born in Medellín, Colombia, is a mixed-media artist based in Las Vegas, Nevada. His work is rooted in a process-oriented approach that emphasizes simplicity through the use of black lines. Black inks are his primary medium, utilizing both conventional drafting tools and unconventional methods to create lines, shapes, and patterns allowing for both precision and spontaneity.

With years of experience as a Theatrical Props Designer, he has developed a deep repertoire of knowledge in varying materials and techniques, experimenting with these within the framework of his artistic approach; integrating these elements without disrupting the simplicity that lies at the core of the work. By layering paper, he creates depth and rhythm, continually reworking the design, often bringing forth recognizable shapes. These elements sometimes emerge from his own photographic references of his travels and inspirations, but they also invite the viewer to find their own narrative within the work, allowing the work to evolve in meaning.

Through this method, he explores how simple black lines can transform into intricate, multi-layered, harmonious compositions, inviting the viewer to find the richness in even the most fundamental of forms in a visually engaging experience.

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#### Can you describe your artistic medium(s) and process?


I primarily work with ink, collage, and mixed media on paper-covered canvas. My process is rooted in layering — I glue and sand paper onto the surface, building a tactile foundation as I add washes of ink, drawn lines, and transfers from my travel photographs or found images. I also fabricate my own mark-making tools, often from found objects, to push texture and experimentation. The work often resembles woodblock prints, though everything is done by hand.

My newest series, _Fragments of Transfer_, pushes this process further. I’ve begun transferring photographs from my travels, as well as found images, onto the layered paper-covered canvas, then weaving them together with ink work. The result feels like a tapestry of memory — fragments of places I’ve been, resurfacing and shifting through layers. Some images almost vanish, others emerge unexpectedly, echoing how memory itself works. I see my practice as process-driven, where each layer is both a physical act and a metaphor for memory, time, and transformation.


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#### What themes or subjects are you most drawn to exploring in your work?


I’m drawn to themes of interconnectivity, identity, and belonging. Much of my work reflects the complexity of being suspended between cultures — Colombian by birth, yet shaped by life abroad. I also explore solitude, gravity, and memory. Series like _Interconnectivity_ illustrate how we’re all bound by invisible structures, while my _Flora_ series reinvents orchids and plants as new botanical forms, connecting me back to Colombian culture. _Fragments of Transfer_ takes this further by exploring memory itself — layering imagery, ink, and transfers into visual archives of place and time. Repetition, geometry, and rhythm also play a central role — patterns that echo both natural growth and human-made systems.


#### Which experiences or environments have influenced your creative voice the most?


My earliest memories are in my mother’s studio, painting beside her with my own tiny easel. That sense of art as a language has never left me. Later, working in theater, immersive productions, and with Blue Man Group and Criss Angel, sharpened my sensitivity to detail, craft, and the way objects carry meaning in space. Travel also deeply shapes me — I document cities through photography and then translate those impressions into layered works, reinterpreting architecture, iconography, and cultural rhythms through patterns and textures.

#### How do you approach the balance between concept and aesthetics in a piece?


For me, concept and aesthetics evolve together. I begin with process — layering, mark-making, repetition — and as forms emerge, they carry meaning with them. The concept is embedded in the making: interconnectivity, memory, belonging, and gravity. Aesthetics — the beauty of line, rhythm, and balance — make those ideas accessible to the viewer. I think of it as a conversation: concept gives depth, aesthetics invites entry.






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#### Can you walk us through a specific project or series that challenged or surprised you?




The _Interconnectivity_ series has been the most challenging and surprising. What began as a meditation on lines and paths evolved into a metaphor for human existence. The solid black circles scattered throughout the works became stand-ins for people — safe, isolated, trapped, or on the edge of change — all weighted by gravity. What surprised me was how viewers immediately connected with these forms, projecting their own stories and emotions into them. It taught me how much meaning can arise from something as simple as a circle.

_Fragments of Transfer_ has challenged me in a new way. Working with photographic transfers introduces unpredictability — sometimes an image embeds perfectly, sometimes it distorts or almost disappears. That uncertainty forces me to adapt, to allow the work to surprise me. The process mirrors memory itself: layered, shifting, and full of ghostly remnants.


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#### How does your work evolve from initial idea to finished piece?




Often it starts with a simple impulse — a line, a circle, a pattern — or a transfer from my photographs. From there, I build through layering, sanding, adding, and erasing. It’s a conversation with the piece: each choice suggests the next. Sometimes the work remains purely abstract, exploring rhythm and balance; other times, figurative or architectural elements emerge, weaving into the structure. A finished piece arrives when it resonates — when it feels both resolved and open enough for the viewer to enter.



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#### Are there any artists or movements that inspire your vision?





I draw inspiration from artists like Alexander Calder, Miró, Picasso, and Botero, for their playfulness, abstraction, and bold forms. Woodblock printmaking traditions inspire me as well, though I translate that language into hand-drawn and layered processes rather than carving. I also look to architecture, design systems, and natural structures — from orchids to mechanical gears to quantum cooling systems. Nature’s creativity never stops teaching me.


#### What do you hope viewers take away from engaging with your work online or in person?


I hope my work becomes a spark — a space where viewers can lose themselves and find something personal. People often see shapes, faces, or stories in my pieces that weren’t consciously placed there, and that’s one of the most rewarding aspects of my practice: when the work becomes a mirror for someone else’s imagination or memory.


#### What’s next for you - upcoming projects, exhibitions, or new directions?

I’ve recently committed to being a full-time artist, and this new chapter feels both exciting and demanding. Right now, I’m expanding ongoing series like _Interconnectivity_ and _Flora_, while developing _Fragments of Transfer_ into a substantial body of work. Looking ahead, while my work is currently focused on the physical layering process, I’m also beginning to explore how digital elements like augmented reality and NFC chip technology might eventually live in unison with the paintings — extending the dialogue between the tactile and the virtual in future iterations in my work. In the near term, I’ll be presenting existing bodies of work at the Reno Tahoe International Art Show, with new directions unfolding soon after.


####  If someone could step into one of your works, what would it feel like or reveal?


It would feel like stepping into a labyrinth — pathways, fragments, and shifting perspectives unfolding around you. At times you’d feel solitude, at others deep connection, as if suspended between gravity and flight. You might find yourself walking through a city that feels both familiar and strange, where images and patterns surface and dissolve like memories.



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Explore Andrés Rave’s art—where bold black lines and layered textures reveal stories of identity, rhythm, and connection

Spotlight: Andrés Rave on Interconnectivity, Identity, and Belonging

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