Frank Rivera relates his paintings to the secretive practice of journal writing, where “people, places, and things warp under scrutiny, fulfilling the writer’s very human need to re-invent the world.” Rivera populates his paintings with such images as gesturing hands, mechanical birds, puppets, chairs and household appliances linked to particular events in his life. Like a storyboard, organized in a series of small panels, these enigmatic narratives often defy the laws of nature and suspend chronology, encouraging the viewer to scan from one panel to the next in search of meaningful clues.