LUA RIVERA

My work investigates the living relationships between human bodies, natural systems, and material intelligence. Through large-scale, inhabitable environments, I construct spatial organisms that invite movement, touch, and embodied reflection. I approach space as rhizomatic—non-linear, interconnected, and continuously evolving—where meaning emerges through lived experience rather than fixed narratives.

Since 2013, I have developed the Rivera Rhizomatic Construction Method, a research-based practice informed by the structural logics of bird nests, spider webs, mycelial networks, and connective tissue. Through tensile weaving and calibrated material negotiation, I create soft yet resilient architectures capable of holding weight and distributing force without relying on rigid frameworks. These installations function as living systems: layered, adaptive, and responsive to both environment and human presence.

Materials—including textiles, ropes, recycled elements, and organic matter—are chosen for their structural capacity as well as their tactile and vibrational qualities. Color and pattern operate as active spatial forces, shaping perception and emotional resonance rather than serving as decoration. Each work develops in dialogue with its site, emerging through attentiveness to gravity, climate, and existing ecosystems rather than through imposition upon them.

I conceive each completed installation as an autonomous entity—capable of evolving meaning beyond my authorship and beyond its moment of creation. Situated between art, biology, philosophy, and spatial practice, my work proposes alternative architectures rooted in softness, interdependence, and care. Rather than offering solutions, these environments open experiential spaces where culture, ecology, and embodied knowledge converge.