El Eterno Presente
Lucid Dreaming, mixed media on Fabriano, 30 × 42 cm, 2022
THE PRESENT MOMENT IS THE ONLY THING THAT EXISTS,
IT HAPPENS TO US ALL THE TIME HOWEVER, WE FORGET TO EXPERIENCE IT.
THE FEELING THAT OUR CLOTHES PROVOKE ON OUR SKIN,
OUR HEELS ALWAYS BEARING THE WEIGHT OF OUR BODY,
OR OUR MUSCLES CONTINUALLY FIGHTING AGAINST THE FORCE OF GRAVITY.
OUR BODY INHABITS "HERE”, AND “NOW” OUR WHOLE EXISTENCE,
BUT THERE ARE FEW THE TIMES THAT WE ARE AWARE OF IT,
LIVING IN THE FUTURE, AND CLINGING TO THE PAST
WE FORGET OF THE INFINITE GIFT THAT IS THIS MOMENT.
WE MISS THE ETERNAL PRESENT.
- AUREO
“A farse, when you tell me these sockets are made just to see. It is but a conduit of representation for this image that I may or not will to witness. Through, there lies my intuition, it whispers to me the effect that corresponds to my cause. If I try to run, I just entangle myself in it. Sooner or later, everything that I run away from, ends up finding me.”
During 2020, while the lockdown was in place, and after an accident for which I was in bed for a couple of months, I decided to take my drawing practice more seriously, at first as a coping mechanism to deal with my anxiety and frustration, but then it was to further develop my technique, to explore new mediums, and ultimately to reconnect with the childlike passion for creating that we have specially when we’re little. At the start of 2022, I was finishing a drawing of a representation of Atlas, lifting a colossal eye on his back. At the time I felt ecstatic with the result. I wanted to show it to someone.
When I made Atlas I didn’t have any idea of what the other 9 pieces would be. I got in touch with Torre Andrade, a cultural lab, where emerging artists that often lack the resources to work with bigger, and often more established galleries can still show their work in a venue.
I was extremely fortunate that on the day that I met with them for the first time, we actually settled the date, the amount of pieces, and many other details. For me, who didn’t know what the rest of the pieces would be, and hadn’t done nor participated in any art show it was both thrilling and terrifying, almost everything said during that conversation was completely new to me. I had six months to prepare and execute my own solo exhibition.
Atlas | Experience, mixed media on Fabriano, 24 × 33 cm, 2022
Organizing a solo art show by myself as my first exhibition was a surreal experience in itself, it challenged me to push myself in directions I had never ventured into, just by means of planning the event and everything goes along with it, and to create way past what I thought to be the extent of my skill.
The whole experience felt like if I was trying to sprint through a marathon. Typically, in order to create an exhibition there is usually a lot of planning involved however there was barely any time to plan things before their execution, so things had to be just right practically since the first attempt. It was an intense task, there were a lot of things that needed to be defined and completed. From the creation of the pieces, and designing the museography of the exhibition, as well as making all of the images to promote the event, to curating all of the texts, and selling the pieces. I had never done many of these things. I learned so much from it, and more importantly it showed me this is my biggest passion.
Serenity, mixed media on Fabriano, 50 × 70 cm, 2022
The Grudge, mixed media on Fabriano, 24 × 33 cm, 2022
ATMAN, mixed media on Fabriano, 50 × 70 cm, 2022
OPENING NIGHT
On September 10th, at 8 pm the doors opened, and my first art exhibition began. During the following hours, until the last person left the venue, I was in what could only be described as a rush of adrenaline and pure joy after doing one of the things that I had dreamt of ever since I was a little kid. In my inner child’s eyes, I was now an artist.
It’s was very important for me to consider what the people’s experience would be when they came in touch with my work. The moment we enter a space we begin to feel and to interact with the energy of that room. So it was very important to me to make people feel immediately immersed into the exhibition. To make it easier for them to connect with the pieces. For them to be just comfortable enough to be able to experience the discomfort that often comes from introspection, more so when you don’t know where it’s going to take you, until you come across a piece and start engaging with it.
During the evening I spoke about what each of the pieces meant to me, and how creating the whole series made me realize a lot about myself. By the end of the night all of the pieces from the series had found their collectors, it was a huge blessing to be to have found people who connected with my work like that. It was something new to me, and I enjoyed it deeply, to be able to share what I feel and how I see things, and to have people connect with that, is one of the most amazing feelings there are.
Thank you being a part of this journey. This was in a way the first step that I took, and I am forever grateful for daring to do it, and for everyone that supported me in doing so.
