The Wait by Raquel Reis
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Watercolor pencil
Dimensions: 23 x 30 cm
Year: 2026
Price: $400.00 USD
Status: available
“The Wait” began with my fascination for those suspended moments when nothing appears to happen, yet everything inside us is moving. I wanted to portray waiting not as passivity, but as endurance: the quiet labor of holding uncertainty, expectation, and inner conflict without surrendering one’s strength. I gave the woman a direct, alert gaze and an assertive, folded posture. She does not retreat from the viewer. She meets us with composure, even as the tension in her face suggests thoughts circling beneath the surface. Sharp lines and curling forms create a restless rhythm, while contrasts of blue, violet, yellow, and red make her emotional state feel immediate. Working with watercolor pencil allowed me to move between delicate transparency and decisive marks, blending figurative presence with the instinctive energy of Abstract Expressionism. I hope this intimate work on paper invites viewers to recognize their own periods of anticipation. For me, the woman embodies the courage required to remain present when answers have not yet arrived. Her stillness is active, watchful, and resilient, reminding us that waiting can be its own form of strength.
Why collect this work?
Crossed forearms turn the figure’s waiting into a firm physical barrier, while asymmetrical features and circling lines make that stillness feel active rather than settled.
- Reis describes her figurative practice as translating emotional states rather than depicting specific identities. The enlarged eyes, compressed anatomy, and assertive posture make that approach legible here without determining one fixed emotion.
- In the photograph, the eyes pull in different directions beneath heavy brows, while the enclosed mouth and folded arms hold the body shut. Spiralling hair and repeated garment marks create movement around this closed pose.
- The documented watercolor pencil medium supports both firm outlines and translucent-looking overlaps. Brown contours organize apparent passages of blue, violet, yellow, and red, though exact color and paper texture cannot be confirmed from the photograph.
- The catalogue titles the work The Wait and dates it 2026, but the visible inscription appears to read 2016. Until resolved, that discrepancy should remain explicit; it also sharpens attention to how the image constructs duration without narrative action.
About the Artist
Raquel Reis
Raquel Reis is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Madrid, ES.
Nationality: Brazilian
My work is rooted in sensation, perception, and gesture.
