Passing the gated entrance to Fernando's studio, I passed through a plant lined walk, as Fernando gave me directions to the door from an up-stairs window. A spiral stairs took me to the upper level of his Miraflores studio and apartment. As soon as I entered the bottom of the stairwell I knew I was in familiar territory as an electric welder was stored under the stairs! I was reassured even further by the friendly unassuming welcome I received when I met Fernando face to face. He was in his environment and he was as natural and composed as one might expect. In fact he continued to work on an installation/book storage unit with his collaborator Gregorio Sotomayor. Gregorio has worked closely with Fernando on many of the technical aspects of his work over the years and was now assisting with this functional and fascinating installation. The books were stacked as if they were floating on air and reaching to the ceiling. “It is art,..all in one's life is art, if you make it as art. As an artist it is important to give yourself fully to experience and to allow your creative processes to become an aspect of all you do. Whatever I do I do it artistically; if I am cooking I want to do it with as much care as if I were making a work of art.” Once Fernando had expressed this sentiment to me, I knew I had also met a kindred spirit, and I became as comfortable in conversation with him as he was in this environment he had realized for himself.
Fernando has a skeptical nature when it comes to institutionalized art and art making. He had learned painting before he decided to enter into art school and gain formal training, but because he had already excelled as a painter and could draw as well as most anyone, he felt his time in the school was being wasted. He wanted other experiences and did not function well within he rigid format of the institution. Doing specific assignments, and following art rules for production was not within his being. He wanted to explore, to break free and to become more than he was, he wanted to break down the walls of academia and to explode onto the art scene of Peru! He also found that once he had accomplished something and was successful at it that it then was demanded of him by galleries and clients. He could not continue mechanically churning out those works, so his inquisitive and exploratory mind caused him to shift into other genres, and other modes of realization.
In much of the recent work made by Fernando we can see common objects he has collected, such as straight edges, rules, and other implements used to measure things. These works made up of gauges also gauge the artist who created them and gauge the viewer who is seeing them. They take measure of the culture in which they are exposed. I myself have always thought that the measure of a culture was its ability to accept challenging works of art or not, and I could see that Fernando also liked to push the boundaries of his patrons and his new audiences.“I like to use some materials that are not valuable. I want to know if the value of the work is in me, or in the materials and this is a way to do that.” You can also find in some of the works that Fernando created in the past other secreted objects, hidden from direct view but indicated by form. Fernando is a collector of things and his studio and living space is indicative of a collectors space.