"The glass sculptures of Isabel De Obaldia evoke ancient spirits of Panama's rainforests and seas. Many of her pieces have rustic textures that infuse her powerful forms with a compelling force, echoing the volcanic stone sculptures of ancient times. Her metates and vertical works are inspired by Pre-Columbian sculptures from the provinces of Chiriquí and Veraguas, where artisans carve large animal metates and peg-based images of chieftains.

-Dicey Taylor, Metates, New York,  Mary Anne Martin/ Fine Art, 2013

"The fact is that De Obaldía’s metates live a double life, or, if you will, hold a surprise for us: they are sculptures to be regarded at a distance, but they are also wells into which one can peer.

In this way, the soil-rough and irregular surface of the works seen from a distance opens into a space of great chromatic richness; what the refulgent back of the metates reveals is a depth that is no longer archaeological but belongs more properly to the sensorial, lyrical order of memory.

The metates on exhibit at the Mary-Anne Martin Gallery demonstrate the Panamanian sculptor’s technical mastery and the consistency of her aesthetic investigation over more than two decades, and confirm her as one of the most outstanding practitioners of glass sculpture in the Americas."

-David Horacio Colmenares, Artnexus magazine issue 92, Metates, New York,  Mary Anne Martin/ Fine Art, 2013