Powerful gorilla by Oaxacan woodcarving artist Marbella Matias. Marbella carved this gorilla in a commanding knuckle-forward stance. Despite fitting in the palm of a hand, the piece carries real weight.
The painting is dark and layered, built on a deep burgundy ground crossed by gold lightning lines that give the whole body an electric, volcanic energy. Glowing orange and red patches erupt across the surface, each filled with dense geometric pattern work; the contrast between the raw, almost smoldering ground and the precision of those interior lines makes this piece so compelling.
Look closely, and the secrets reveal themselves. On the chest, Marbella has hidden a jaguar in negative space: two bright yellow eyes staring out from within the composition, visible only when you know to look.
On the back, tiny black silhouettes of gorillas and monkeys are painted directly on the dark ground, almost absorbed into it, like shadows of ancestors moving through the jungle.
