Francisco Ríos Araya (1971, Santiago)
With journalism studies at the Universidad Bolivariana and art studies at the Universidad Finis Terrae, the sculptor has developed a career characterized by his participation in international sculptors' meetings (Canada, Argentina), and by the great variety of materials he has used in his works: clay, metal clay, wood, resin, snow and, currently, natural fibers. His subject matter has varied from his interest in representing the functioning of the bone structure, horses and human, figures to abstract elements related to sensuality and the origin of life. From his knowledge of pre-Columbian cultures, obtained after a long journey that led him to travel through Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, in 2009, the artist has focused his work on the representation of mythological beings that are repeated in different ancestral cultures, reinterpreting them as the connection between the earthly and the celestial.
In 2009 he presented the exhibition Conexión Tierra-Cielo at the Centro Cultural de La Reina, at the opening of which he presented an art action consisting of a dance and interpretation of pre-Columbian instruments that give life to his sculptures, which he later presented at the Faculty of Journalism of the Universidad Diego Portales and, in 2010, at the Museo Arqueológico Padre Le Paige de San Pedro de Atacama de Bellas Artes.
He has worked on the scenography for the musical group La Pichimuchina at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino in Santiago and on the projection and musical presentation of the ancestral textile "Paracas" at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA).
He worked in the exhibition on Chiloé mythology organized by the Fundación Chile Mitos at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Parque Forestal) and in a group exhibition at the Centro Cultural de España on the cultures of Tierra del Fuego.
He has worked as a teacher of workshops for children at the CNCA.
