Chengue

Artist: Rosana Auqué
Year: 2022
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Diameter: 100 cm

Chengue – A Circular Meditation on Origin and Return

Chengue was created in 2022 as part of the Connection exhibition presented in Santa Marta, Colombia — my hometown. Returning there to exhibit this body of work was not only a professional milestone; it was an intimate gesture of coming back to the place where everything began.

The painting holds the emotional weight of that return. It is circular, 100 centimeters in diameter, and built in acrylic on canvas. The round format was not a decorative choice. It was essential. The circle contains no hierarchy, no beginning or end. It mirrors cycles, movement, continuity — the same continuity that connects memory, geography, and identity.

Chengue is not a literal landscape. It is an internal landscape shaped by waves, rhythm, and flow. It carries the sensation of something in motion — something that does not stop at the edge of the canvas.

The Origin of the Series – Movement Before Meaning

The Connection collection was born in an unexpected moment. I was at a party in Milan when I began to see movement — almost like waves — forming in my mind. It was not a concrete image. It was a rhythm. A pulse. A sensation of something expanding and contracting.

At first, I did not fully understand what I was seeing. But I felt the need to paint it.

Over time, the meaning clarified itself. The movement I perceived became a visual metaphor for something larger: the invisible threads that bind us to one another. The way we move together, even when we are unaware of it. The way we belong to the same universe, shaped by shared energy.

Chengue is part of that realization.

Why the Circle Matters

The circular format reinforces the idea of unity. In a square or rectangular canvas, the eye travels toward edges and corners. In a circle, the movement loops back into itself. There is no interruption.

This uninterrupted flow reflects how connection operates — not as a straight line, but as a field.

The viewer’s gaze moves through layers of color and gesture, following currents that feel both spontaneous and intentional. The surface suggests vibration rather than structure. It invites a contemplative, almost meditative viewing experience.

Returning to Santa Marta – Painting as Homecoming

Exhibiting Chengue in Santa Marta transformed the work. The painting had been conceived in Milan, shaped by an urban European rhythm. But presenting it in my hometown allowed it to close a personal circle.

Santa Marta is not only a place; it is an emotional landscape of light, Caribbean movement, and sea currents. The waves that appeared in Milan found resonance in the memory of the coast where I grew up.

In that sense, Chengue is both departure and return.

It embodies the distance between continents and the invisible continuity between them.

H2: Technique and Material Presence

Painted in acrylic on canvas, Chengue balances immediacy with control. Acrylic allows for layering without losing freshness. The surface holds gestures that feel fluid yet deliberate.

The 100 cm diameter format gives the piece a strong physical presence. It occupies space differently than a traditional rectangular painting. Hung on a wall, it feels less like a window and more like an orbit.

The work interacts with light dynamically. Depending on the viewing angle and the surrounding environment, subtle shifts in tone and texture become visible. This responsiveness reinforces the conceptual core of the piece: nothing is isolated; everything responds.

Connection as a Contemporary Question

At its heart, Chengue explores a question central to my practice:

How are we connected beyond what we can see?

The painting does not attempt to answer this intellectually. Instead, it offers a visual field in which the viewer can experience movement, interdependence, and continuity.

The universe does not operate in fragments. Neither does this work.

Artwork Details

Title: Chengue
Year: 2022
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 100 cm diameter
Exhibited in: Connection Exhibition, Santa Marta, Colombia