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?
I don’t think I can really see myself or my identity as an artist any different, although perhaps, the fact that I lived in different countries, in different large, multiethnic cities has greatly influenced me and my cultural identity, and consequently – and inevitably - my identity as an artist. however, I am not sure this has a direct impact in my aesthetics. my art is simply formal, technical and chromatic exercises in forms generation, informed by, among other things, physics and mathematics that involve many different types of techniques, manipulations and operations. there are no thoughts of identity or culture involved. however, it is also an interpretation, a personal way to see nature and life - fragmented, uncertain, unstable and ever-changing. perhaps, then, there is a hidden correlation between the unstable times we are living, my cultural identity and my artwork.
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?
My background and education is in architecture and a bit of physics and mathematics. I did not study art, but art has always been a passion, since I was a child. I started painting later in life, during architecture school, and while working as an architectural illustrator. for my projects, I generated very abstract presentation drawings and paintings. after school, painting and art remained mainly a hobby, occasionally selling and entering competitions throughout the country. the art process is more creative than the architectural one, and the necessity to create, to construct something, inspired me to dedicate more time to it, while still working as an architect.
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?
I have many different artworks, artists and movements/styles, not just one specific artwork. Constructivism, Suprematism, Futurism, and Rayonnism were very important influences at the beginning. with time, as my art developed, I started looking at other styles and artists. possibly, the artist that has had – and still does - the biggest impact in my work and artistic practice is Richard Diebenkorn, but it is mostly from a strictly technical, formal and procedural aspect of art making.
Since you transform your experiences into your artwork, we are curious, what is the role of memory in your artistic productions? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve a faithful translation of your previous experiences or if you rather use memory as starting point to create.
My artwork is typically generated through the use of different mathematics and geometry concepts, as a development of a small sketch or a quick collage, or as an evolution/derivation of a previous work. I often refer to my compositions as “transient” systems, because many of them are in fact a “snapshot” of a phase of a constantly evolving, impossible to complete system, at a specific time. so memory does not really play an important role in my process...
What is the role of technique in your practice? In particular are there any constraints or rules that you follow when creating?
Technique and process play an enormous role in my practice. this is especially important for the work based on mathematics, geometry and physics concepts. in these, the constraints and rules are established by the very concepts I utilize, although, to different extents, they are always applied in a subjective and interpretative way. for other types of compositions, constraints are more flexible, informal and less rigid. they are more like mechanisms utilized for forms generation: elimination and alteration, destruction, (re)building and transformation, overlapping of forms and all sorts of operations to manipulate figure-ground relationships, proportions, harmony, contrast, overlaps, and to analyze and alter the behavior of colors, forms, fields, lines and segments.
How do you see the relationship between emotional and intellectual perception of your work? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
I don’t take issues of emotional or intellectual perception – or their relationship - under consideration in my practice, at least not consciously. but I do believe that abstract, non-objective art is by its nature difficult to understand, and it is more appreciable and perceptible if the viewer is informed about the context, the meaning, the process and the techniques associated with a particular artwork. that would be what and how I consider immersive nature.