Octopus Initiative Artist Sierra Montoya Barela
Sierra Montoya Barela’s practice combines painting, sculpture, collage, and printmaking in an exploration of the figure as an unidentified subject. At times, the works are diagrammatic and instructional in nature. Many combine references to both digital tools and traditional, perceptual painting. Her still life paintings transport the viewer to imagined spaces, offering glimpses into fleeting moments laden with symbolic references to her Hispanic heritage and Catholic upbringing. Montoya Barela’s meticulous compositions skillfully navigate the intersection of personal history and universal themes, creating evocative narratives that resonate on multiple levels.
Montoya Barela was born in 1993 and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015 and was an Artist-In-Residence at the Vermont Studio Center and the Horned Dorset Colony that year. Her work has been included in group and solo exhibitions at Post Gallery Zurich in Switzerland, Galerie Robertson Arés in Montréal, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, the Museo de las Americas, Odessa Denver, Yes Ma’am Projects, Gildar Gallery, and the Open Shelf Library at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.
