CLIVUS by Maurizio Valch in Studio Perspective

A steep slope fragments the canvas in a collision of masses where gravity orders the matter. A dense, nocturnal, and heavy blue cuts through the space, imprisoned by slopes of oxides and burning reds that collapse and ascend. The clivus, that physical inclination of the composition, manifests as a constant tension that demands effort. This stratification evokes the ideas of Carl Gustav Jung, the psychiatrist who investigated the deep structures of the psyche, by asking us whether these divisions represent slopes of the conscious plane holding themselves above the abyss of the collective unconscious. The blue block is not a vacuum; it is a dividing force of the inner territory.

By making the thin light blue and red incisions in the acrylic and oil, I do not seek to trace a superimposed drawing, but to register an archaic mark on the matter. Each line is a scar that delimits the slopes. In this process resounds my memory of the Mediterranean, where the land cuts abruptly before the sea, teaching me that the limit is a geography of resistance. The rectangles inhabiting these slopes are not houses or monoliths, but units of presence that essay a precarious stability on inclined ground, challenging the imminent slide.

The instability of these suspended blocks dialogues with the thought of George Gurdjieff, a mystic who questioned human automatism and proposed 'self-remembering' as an awakening. Facing the comfort of the horizontal surface, which lulls perception into inertia, the tension of the slope demands attention. These geometries represent the difficulty of maintaining presence in an environment that pushes toward the lower red bottom. The visual dynamism of the slopes forces the eye to carry out an active work of ascent and descent, challenging all passive contemplation.

I reject interpretations that reduce my palette to a psychological code where blue is sadness or red is danger. Ultramarine blue and crimson red act on the canvas as physical forces, masses of energy that clash and press against each other. With a height of 130 centimeters, the scale of the work turns its verticality into a threshold that the viewer must measure with their own body. There are no hidden messages behind these shapes; I seek the essential structure of the plane and what happens when forcing a shape to inhabit the edge of the slide.

These stable geometries clash with the agitation of the background, a dialectic that refers to the reflections of Osho, the philosopher who explored the tension between the rigid structures of society and the organic freedom of life. The rectangles delimiting the space seem like rational dams against the fluidity of the slopes and the chromatic vibration. The doubt remains whether these forms attempt to domesticate the landscape or whether they constitute shelters of meditation in the midst of the tectonic collision, letting the line and the immensity of color sustain themselves in a permanent vibration.

Context references

130 cm painting in wooden room · vertical abstract art for interiors · Maurizio Valch painting in art studio · how to place painting leaning against wall · large format canvas rustic and modern setting

About this visualization

This visualization places the artwork within an architectural context to help collectors and viewers imagine its presence in a real space. It is an interpretive reference, not an exact reproduction: the original work remains the sole authority for scale, color, surface and material presence.