RAFAEL RIVERA ROSA

(Comerío, Puerto Rico, 1942)

The Tree of Life, 2007

Acrylic on canvas

MAB’s permanent collection

The tree is a sacred symbol that appears in various mythologies; it symbolizes the world’s axis, a place where life and space come together. For the indigenous people of the Caribbean – the Taínos – the Ceiba tree was the most revered for being the home of the spirits of the jungle and an energy conductor. For the African continent, the Baobab is a meeting place to make important decisions; it represents vitality, health, resistance, community, and longevity (Zandy Benet, 2022). For the tribal societies of the Iron Age in Europe – the Celts – the tree represents continuous regeneration and the perfect union of water, land, air, and fire. In this painting, the tree is depicted through strong thick lines from which its branches extend in a spiral. The trunk is painted black on a yellow background with strokes of green and red. Black stands for the natural element of land, yellow is the color of intuition, illumination, and air; green refers to water, vegetation, and death; and finally red signifies fire and pulsating blood (Cirlot, 2004).