The direct translation of El Cruce from Spanish to English is ‘the crossing’. Herrera achieves this notion through two intersecting planes of royal blue, creating a crossroad of perfect symmetry and balance across a field of red. This work reveals Herrera’s early training in architecture at La Universidad de La Habana and relates to earlier works such as Escorial, 1974, where the composition references an architectural blueprint or, here, a map. Herrera’s painting process begins with acrylic marker and pencil drawings, then a more formal painting on paper, and eventually a decision whether to realize the final large-scale work on canvas. Each step is conceptualized as forms to be adjusted, shifted and played with, just as an architect is taught. The back and forth play of color and shape also create what Herrera calls “alternatives,” or inversions between figure and ground, thereby creating the tension and harmony for which she has become so well known.

The direct translation of El Cruce from Spanish to English is ‘the crossing’. Herrera achieves this notion through two intersecting planes of royal blue, creating a crossroad of perfect symmetry and balance across a field of red. This work reveals Herrera’s early training in architecture at La Universidad de La Habana and relates to earlier works such as Escorial, 1974, where the composition references an architectural blueprint or, here, a map. Herrera’s painting process begins with acrylic marker and pencil drawings, then a more formal painting on paper, and eventually a decision whether to realize the final large-scale work on canvas. Each step is conceptualized as forms to be adjusted, shifted and played with, just as an architect is taught. The back and forth play of color and shape also create what Herrera calls “alternatives,” or inversions between figure and ground, thereby creating the tension and harmony for which she has become so well known.

The direct translation of El Cruce from Spanish to English is ‘the crossing’. Herrera achieves this notion through two intersecting planes of royal blue, creating a crossroad of perfect symmetry and balance across a field of red. This work reveals Herrera’s early training in architecture at La Universidad de La Habana and relates to earlier works such as Escorial, 1974, where the composition references an architectural blueprint or, here, a map. Herrera’s painting process begins with acrylic marker and pencil drawings, then a more formal painting on paper, and eventually a decision whether to realize the final large-scale work on canvas. Each step is conceptualized as forms to be adjusted, shifted and played with, just as an architect is taught. The back and forth play of color and shape also create what Herrera calls “alternatives,” or inversions between figure and ground, thereby creating the tension and harmony for which she has become so well known.

The direct translation of El Cruce from Spanish to English is ‘the crossing’. Herrera achieves this notion through two intersecting planes of royal blue, creating a crossroad of perfect symmetry and balance across a field of red. This work reveals Herrera’s early training in architecture at La Universidad de La Habana and relates to earlier works such as Escorial, 1974, where the composition references an architectural blueprint or, here, a map. Herrera’s painting process begins with acrylic marker and pencil drawings, then a more formal painting on paper, and eventually a decision whether to realize the final large-scale work on canvas. Each step is conceptualized as forms to be adjusted, shifted and played with, just as an architect is taught. The back and forth play of color and shape also create what Herrera calls “alternatives,” or inversions between figure and ground, thereby creating the tension and harmony for which she has become so well known.