mindset, hopefully I am wrong. I do not mean that we
should stop placing any measures that we can think
of on the table or that we shouldn’t keep fighting for
all of our futures with the weapons we each have at
our disposal against the way we so inappropriately
keep expanding.
Out the numerous exhibitions you have partici-
pated in, which would you say stands out?
The standout was a work commissioned on the
first centenary of the creation of the National Parks
Laws. I was commissioned to carry out a piece that
depicted the Bolles pidgeon of the National Park of
Garajonay in La Gomera. Together with the grea-
test nature artists in the country, some of which
I have admired from a young age, I attended said
exhibition at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food in Madrid. It made me feel like I was
going places.
Where would you like to exhibit that you have
not done so yet?
Each exhibition is important to me if it means I am
creating awareness with my paintings, like every ar-
tist we ultimately want to express a message, what
I like is reaching the maximum number of people
and that my voice (my paintings) resonates loudly
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and powerfully so that people protect nature and
get to know this particular method of discussing it
through brush strokes. This interview with OTWO for
example is a way of doing that and therefore good
exposure.
Are your works part of a series or are they in-
dependent?
Normally, when an idea takes me, I need to com-
plete several works until I am satisfied so they tend
to be series but in reality everything revolves around
nature, so in the long run I end up combining them if
together they send a clear message and although they
are related they can also be distinct.
You have also contributed to numerous publica-
tions, which would you say is a highlight?
Although I love the ones that I often do for ecotou-
rism guides, I adore the ones for scientific identifica-
tion. I love the idea of h elping someone identify a spe-
cies for the first time. The highlights are “The Whales
and Dolphins of the Canary Islands” poster, which is
ready and pending publication, my latest work “Seas-
hells and marine snails”, the cover of “Anthropocene”
in which I highlight both the virtues and tragedies we
experience in the Campo de Gibraltar and my latest
illustrated book “Ínsulas”.
What are your links to environmental groups in
the region?
I belong to the Black Stork Ornithological Organisa-
tion, I collaborate with all of the associations within
the region that need me and I work closely with the
Natural Park of the Straits with which I identify very
much with, to the point where the aim of my artistic
publications are encapsulated by the phrase “Working
for, with and from the Straits.”
Do you think that the environment in the area
should be more cared for?
It is necessary, we breathe, eat, drink, love and nur-
ture within it, ultimately, it is where we live.
Finally, what are your next artistic projects?
I currently have an illustration contract for a gui-
de to Terrestrial and Galapagos Turtles which I am
immersed in. I have just finished illustrations for the
Cape Verde Interpretation Centre in Cape Verde about
the African birds found there, and I have a project of
fifteen works that will talk about the migration of birds
and humans through the Straits which is due for com-
pletion in mid-2021.
OTWO 09 / APRIL 2020
OTWO 09 / APRIL 2020
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