Following your creative impulses

Last December a group of art students came to my solo exhibition and asked me a very insightful question: “You seem to focus both on geometric abstraction and abstract expressionism. Since you have two very different and opposite styles, what is the common ground, and how do you bridge the gap between them?”

Well, I’m not a big fan of labels, as they tend to enclose phenomena in a tiny box, but, you know, they’re useful in the sense that they help establish common ground, so I’ll go for it.

Untitled – work in progress, 2019

Marble dust and makeup (eyeshadow and nail polish) on wooden board.

See, as a self-taught artist I wasn’t taught the theory, or the techniques. I’m figuring it all out as I go, so I just follow my creative impulses, like a child.

Within this kind of freedom, I tend to focus on geometry when I want to express my soul through the mind, and I focus on more expressionist, gestural work when I want my soul to express itself through the body.

But of course all this is not carried out in a measured way, it’s not a method, it just happens to be like this.

I’ve found that, when I tackle a big project where I do the work of the mind, even though I pour my heart and soul into it, I invariably feel this urge to compensate and focus on more expressive work, one that frees me from the rigidities of the mental constructs.

It’s a if I would have spent enough time sitting in front of the computer and now my body needed to dance.

And it’s not just a matter of style, but of medium and technique too.

I could say that painting helps me to unwind after working hard building geometrical universes!

And viceversa, when I’ve indulged enough playing with improvisation, there comes an energy wave that is asking me to be more strategic, more left-brain oriented.

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The thing is, I love change. In all areas of life. I find it so very energizing. It inspires me to evolve, to move from one project to the next.

Working in this fashion brings me enough change and freedom to find peace.

This way I feel complete, balanced, and ultimately, content with the work I produce.