Curving up and down like a cresting and crashing wave, the bold sculptural mural above the Minneapolis Corporate Center fireplace brings energy and life to the second-floor lobby.

Expressive in both color and form, this hand-painted sculpture by Marela Zacarías, titled Riding the Wave, evokes flowing fabric and dynamic organic forms. The sculpture combines influences from global textile history and 20^th century abstract painting. Placing the sculpture above the lobby fireplace ensures that the Thrivent workforce and visitors to the Minneapolis Corporate Center will be welcomed each day by colorful, dynamic energy.

“It is an absolute honor to create a work that becomes a place of gathering,” shared Zacarías. “You have a big piece of me here.”

You can learn more about Zacarías and the innovative sculpture in the 16-minute video below–from first “gesture” to installation.

How was this made?

To create the sculpture’s form, Zacarías starts with an idea of a gesture that she captures in a sketch. This sketched “gestural movement” informs how she will use wood to form the backing of the piece, and mold wire mesh over the wood to create the sculpture’s undulating waves and folds. Over the wood and wire mesh frame, Zacarías applies, shapes, and sands down plaster before intuitively painting it with geometric and organic forms.

A symphony of influences

Zacarías has a deep understanding of the history of global textiles and of how they function in society as objects that maintain culture, represent mythology, and play a vital role in indigenous communities. Zacarías recognizes the connections all people and cultures have to fiber arts and pattern and incorporates them into her work.

Her personal history and continuous research have informed much of her artwork: “My mom is an anthropologist. We traveled all over Mexico visiting indigenous communities, so there's that connection that I have personally. I looked at my own textiles and how abstraction and color has been a way for women and for families to keep their culture throughout time,” she explains. “So, I got a huge lesson from them in terms of how much you can communicate through abstraction and color, and the power that is embedded in it.”

Integrating a symphony of influences into her artistic practice, Zacarías hopes that her work engages viewers by giving them the chance to discover new moments every time they look.

More on Marela

Born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico, Marela Zacarías moved to the United States to attend college and began her artistic career painting murals.

She looked to mural painting as a medium that artists have used throughout history to communicate with the public about relevant issues. Her innovative and experimental spirit led her to create murals in a wholly new way, bringing work that would typically only be seen on two-dimensional surfaces onto flowing three-dimensional forms. She is an accomplished sculptor and muralist whose works are featured in exhibitions and public and private collections across the country.

As an artist with roots all around the world, Zacarías feels the responsibility she holds to the various communities that have shaped her life. Her multifaceted background is a source of pride, not only for herself, but also for the communities she represents and gives voice to in her work and life. Today, she splits her time between Mexico City and New York.

Uniquely aligned with Thrivent

The Thrivent Art Collection is meant to encourage conversation, spark creativity, and infuse the Corporate Center with moments of inspiration and meaning. Experiencing art often moves us and enlivens our daily lives.

Zacarías works to provide moments of inspiration through her multifaceted, luminous art. Her focus on building, supporting, and inspiring community through her artistic endeavors is uniquely aligned with Thrivent’s spirit and organizational intent to lift up and mobilize communities around the country through galvanizing activities and ideas.

Thrivent is proud to have partnered with Zacarías to bring this imaginative, innovative work into the Thrivent Art Collection.