Chicago-based artist and educator Eve Rivera has a background in literary, performance and visual arts. She began her life as an artist at the tender age of seven, her first experiences as a puppeteer and drama performer. By her early teen she began touring as a dancer and theater performer with the Latin American Performing Arts Conservatory (LAPAC) in countless productions. Her highlights with the conservatory include productions at the Chicago Theater in 1989, three tours to Disney World between 1990-1994, and President Clinton's inauguration parade in Washington DC in 1993. She has studied under the Giordano Jazz Dance Company, Joel Hall Dance Center, and the technique of Martha Graham as a concert dancer while attending Lincoln Park High School. It was during Rivera's later teenage years that she began working in multiple libraries and delved into poetry, collage work, drawing, and painting. As she grew an appreciation for art she began a collection of inspiration in postcards, magazines, and books, which she then altered into her own pieces of art. By 1995, as an established dancer, she began fine art courses and had her first exhibition as a painter at the Berger Park Cultural Center.
Rivera's appreciation for beauty and the struggle of life continued to inspire her art. Creating highly textured and conceptual work, themes of space, journey, theology, religion, and design can be observed in each individual piece. She explores emotion in its most honest forms reflecting a simplistic and timeless quality with a focus on texture and small details. Her work has been displayed in exhibitions throughout Chicago, including River North, Pilsen, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview areas. She has done stage work for a number of children production, designing sets and costumes. Currently Rivera is pursuing her teacher certification in special education while freelancing as a documentary/ portraiture photographer, stage production and a mixed media artist.
