From 2007 to 2017 – 10 years of production
The black, systematically applied and in many forms, is always present in my artistic journey, hence defining this first decade of work and research in the pictorial field.
At the beginning, saving colors aimed to remark the gesture, where black and white were only imprints and trails of brushes, with certain control in vertical or horizontal sense tracing paths, but nothing was done by pure chance. There was always a project and appreciation of expression and vitality of the gesture, as well as in the SUCCESSION series paintings.
After, the use of squeegees and other instruments determined how to drag one paint over another, sometimes white overlapped black and vice-versa, in a movement which the spectator finds difficult to tell which gesture/color came first. The series TRAIL then suggests insular images or nightscapes, but with no direct representative intention, being only the result of intentional movements recorded on the support, creating tension, not only by contrast, but also by chance of the gesture imprint. The paintings have a roughness, dryness, engraving aspect due to the scarce material. Control and lack of control.
Then, black is heated or cooled when it receives a great amount of red or blue, or even matte black over glossy black sliding over one another in a very subtle game. In this phase, the paintings get a gloomier feel, and the observer is required to put more effort into perception to tell apart the intention of gestures and the tension that is created.
Until then the pictorial space was uniformly covered by the paint, leaving no space for the canvas to breathe in any moment. In the series SHADOWS, the paintings start to receive the gesture work of brushes and squeegees dragged simultaneously, and the canvas presents breathing and exhaustion areas. Sometimes black prevails, sometimes white, suggesting shadows. There is a simplicity in form without showing lack in expression.
Finally, in the series VISIBLE LIMIT and in the current research of the series DIVING, a very subtle light rips darkness, breaking the use of black that is still present, however diluted, and is allowed to be penetrated by color indeed. The color field is now more valued, creating surfaces, blocks and even possible “landscapes” or light and color environments.
Black, still fundamental in the intent of lining what must be seen, acts with no line or drawing, creating images that intentionally dissolve in asymmetric forms suggesting abysses, holes, vortexes. They are visual paths inside the pictorial field that conduct the sight of the spectator and together with the work scale, suggest a visual/metal displacement that also mirrors a possible virtual displacement of the spectator`s body.
The color stains are obtained through transparency and overlaying the diluted paint, almost the same operational way as in glaze watercolor painting. The color seems to be denser depending on the light intensity that can penetrate in the painting and return. A certain veiled silence and rest for contemplating the painting are present in these works.
The series VISIBLE LIMIT and specially the series DIVING include works that require more effort from sight, thus being impossible to have a near notion of what’s real through solely photo reproduction. Therefore, the painting requires presence before the work as a fundamental part to experience its complete perception.
