Daydream in Blue – paper 00021

Daydream in Blue is an original drawing on paper in which a human profile—rendered in graphite and pigment—dissolves into a succession of fluid parallel lines. The face is drawn with clarity and serenity, while the surrounding space is composed of strokes characteristic of a daydream: horizontal, rhythmic, and unanchored. The blue pigment permeating the work provides a specific emotional register: the coolness of contemplation and the distance of introspection.

Mandiola works the profile in relation to the surrounding space rather than in opposition to it; the lines suggesting hair, movement, or thought extend the boundaries of the face without breaking them. The composition belongs to a group of works in which Mandiola explores the threshold between portraiture and abstraction: images that begin with the human face and open outward into something less specific and more atmospheric.

The graphite stroke is confident and economical, and the pigment is applied with restraint. Together, they create an image of serene formal intelligence and authentic emotional warmth. An original and unique work by the Chilean artist Luis Mandiola Uribe.

“Technique: Graphite and pigment on paper. Year 1995. 20.1 x 14 in.”

The work is available as a unique original piece. It represents a key moment in Mandiola’s artistic career, where sobriety of means generates maximum expressive and conceptual force.