Hello Diego and welcome to NotRandomArt. The current issue is revolving around the
problem of communication and identity. Is there any particular way you would describe your identity as an artist but also as a human being in dynamically changing, unstable times? In particular, does your cultural substratum/identity form your aesthetics?
Hello NotRandomArt and thanks for the interview. Wow! This seems like a hard question. Let me try : )
Well, identity is definitely a concept which has been brought up a lot lately. Usually I prefer to leave my identity as an open possibility, as defining it I think closes it up. It is also fluid and changes within time, like an artist's work usually does. One can also see today's politics grouping identities, for good intentions, which I think finally ends up dividing societies more than doing much good. Every person's struggle and condition should be treated from the individual's point of view, if you ask me, for avoiding tribal like behaviours. Also, many identities coexist within each individual, which makes the issue a bit more complicated than many think when putting one into a group.
I come originally from Santiago, Chile and am 35. I have also lived most of my adult life in Europe, specially France and Germany, where I live at the moment with my family, in Leipzig. I think where you live and where you come from define a lot your view on the world and of aesthetics, and of what you yourself are, although only in part. Both in Chile and in Europe I was a lot exposed to painting, specially the western tradition. I was fascinated by baroque painting, even soviet art. I used to discuss art with my friend Guillermo Lorca since our teenage days in Santiago for hours in his studio as I was still an economics student.
I guess the aesthetics of my work are formed to some extent from my cultural substratum, but also like identity, a lot comes also from within. I too feel sometimes creating art works comes as well from outside yourself, like one was a wifi router somehow, and one has to stay open to receive the ideas from wherever they come from. Of course both art from past times and contemporary art have an influence on my taste and work, and that is also constantly evolving. The places where you have lived also I guess have an influence on your work. Painting in Paris, in the French countryside or in Leipzig with german ex GDR and general expressionist tradition have each contributed to my aesthetics and pictorial universe. Personal reflection and artistic environment also play a role. So I guess to form your aesthetics one is a mix of where you are from, where you have been, what and who you have seen, but also a bit of your soul and the soul of us all. Wow that sounded like a huge cliché. I still guess it is the most accurate I can be.
To comment the part about changing, unstable times, I think we would be better off as a one planet world, making whole planet decisions, where individuals are more than nationality, race and sexual orientation, where is one is plainly who their are. The instability is the cost of us walking the way towards that.
Would you like to tell us something about your artistic as well as life background? What inspired you to be in this artistic point in your life when you are now?
Yes sure. I came from a big family in Chile and from a happy childhood. Chilean society is (often) conservative and where I come from to choose to be an artist is, like in many places, a rough choice. I would play music during my adolescence, and was in a couple of bands. I dreamed of being a musician. Somehow around 18 I thought studying economics was a good idea (I got influenced by a very bad book, and probably also by my environment). I soon discovered I hated the world of economics and started doing theatre. This brought me to study theatre in France. I quit my studies and started to do little jobs here and there. I even ended up with a degree in wine tasting and commerce and worked in that business for a couple of years. Finally one day I woke up and discovered I was a painter and that was what I was supposed to do. A couple of people laughed at my news, of course, or were skeptical. I have been doing that ever since, and this was around 8 years ago.
If I have to say what inspired me to be where I am now I think it is a mix of things. One is this feeling I had of having discovered what I was. Another is the belief I have since childhood that making art is some of the greatest things one can do as a human being, and that it is worth trying. And of course the other one is the huge support I have had from my wife, family, friends and lots of people, who have all I must say been super encouraging.
Could you identify a specific artwork that has influenced your artistic practice or has
impacted the way you think about your identity as a participant of the visual culture?
They are very many. Rembrandt's works. Van Dyck's. Rothko's. I remember holding back tears when seeing Dans le Jardin du Docteur Gachet by Van Gogh. Seeing also the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt had a big effect on me. La vuelta de la pesca, from Sorolla is a strong figurative work. Otto Dix. Klimt. I recently saw a work from Daniel Richter here in Leipzig called Fun de Siècle which had a strong influence in me. Lucian Freud. Ian Cumberland is an artist who also has been showing work here in Leipzig who I find brilliant. Sebastian Hosu is also interesting. Last but not least, all works by my friend Guillermo Lorca have inspired me, also to be a painter. I must say his latest work El Hombre de los Gatos is exceptional. The freedom of Penny Monogiou's works also intrigues me.