A vertical abstract painting titled STRATA IV — DECLIVIS by Maurizio Valch. It features a dominant dark red color field with visible textured brushstrokes and layers. Four intense crimson red rectangular blocks are distributed diagonally across the surface. Thin, wavy white lines, appearing incised, traverse the surface horizontally, connecting and encircling the red blocks.
STRATA IV — DECLIVIS is an abstract composition by Maurizio Valch. Deep red, precise incisions, and crimson blocks configure a material and stratified territory, reflecting the artist's exploration of surface and memory.

Published work / STRATA

STRATA IV — DECLIVIS

Material Tensions in a Deep Red Field

Medium
Acrílico y óleo
Size
80 × 120 cm / 31.5 × 47.2 in
Series
STRATA Painting series STRATA 2026–Present · 10 works Maurizio Valch's STRATA series features contemporary abstract painting, showcasing artwork with stratified surfaces. Crafted with acrylic and oil on canvas, this series stands out for its dense chromatic fields and profound incisions, evoking an inner, archetypal territory. View series
Orientation
Vertical
Context studies
10

Conceptual Note

A vast field of deep red extends across STRATA IV — DECLIVIS, where the painterly material reveals a geography of layers and glazes. Acrylic and oil merge on canvas, constructing a vibrant surface that breathes with the pigment's density, suggesting a primal skin or ground. This contemporary abstract painting manifests as a territory of origin and transformation, aligning with Maurizio Valch's ongoing exploration of memory and materiality.

Across this expanse, thin, sinuous white lines, precisely drawn, break the color's continuity, like incisions carving through earth. These marks articulate space rather than merely dividing it, guiding the eye along a diagonal path. Puncturing this trajectory, four rectangular blocks of a more saturated crimson red emerge, simultaneously anchored and suspended, providing a formal solidity that contrasts with the lines' fluidity.

The interaction among the base color layers, incised lines, and textural blocks generates a stratified depth. This vertical material abstract painting employs tonal contrasts and evidence of impasto to create a visual tension, resolving into a contained and contemplative atmosphere. Maurizio Valch thus explores the concept of territory not as a landscape, but as a surface where memory and structure become visible, inviting silent reflection. The work sustains a tension between stillness and movement, revealing a brutalist form that, despite its rigor, retains a latent vitality. The result is an acrylic and oil on canvas composition where every element—from the canvas grain to the final stroke—contributes to the material presence of this red field.