Patricia Erickson – the artist: Patricia Erickson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a self-taught artist and long-term resident of Costa Rica. Patricia first fell in love with Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast when she lived in Moín, a port north of Limón and now has her studio and residence in Guápiles on the western banks of the Rio Blanco River. Her vibrant paintings dance with brilliant Caribbean colors, many of them portraying her trademark her faceless Limónense women with their flowing limbs. When asked about the faceless images Patricia replies, “Whose face would I put? The paintings are deeply and profoundly about us all. The people in my paintings make lives, truly graceful lives, out of the very simple things. Out of watching, observing and protecting each other. That is all we know about the rather private personalities that I paint. People going about the small business of life.” Patricia's love of her chosen home in Costa Rica and the consequent subject matter of that rich culture are more than apparent in her work. She suggests more of the movement, the passion and vitality of her community through color and it is that captured essence that catches the eye and then the heart. As you watch people at her paintings you can see exactly when the connection is made, the eyes light up, and then know the paintings have spoken to them. The titles alone speak volumes. They capture the theme presented to Patricia when she saw what she needed to see to paint the image from her heart. Enjoy the vibrancy, the movement, the disproportionality, the way these pieces break the rules, enjoy their captured innocence, their frankness, all with brushstrokes that convey the richness of Costa Rica, lush and sumptuous with a confidence that offers no apology to the critics , succinctly marking each painting with a signature that is truly Patricia Erickson’s. "To probe the dramatic depth of a region, segregated and forgotten, this is a challenge worthy of a good artist, such as Erickson." Juan Bernal Ponce, Art Critic "La Nacion" May 19, 1995
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