Loss

When applying for exhibitions, artists are frequently asked to provide an artist statement. This brief declaration, that artists often dread to think about and write, provides a curator, gallerist, or viewer some background about the artwork, the art process, and/or the motivations of the artist to create such an art piece or collection. Artists often question the need for such a statement: “If we create/paint/sculpt/build it, why talk about it?”. In any case, this text could be what grabs the attention of viewers and subsequently turns them into fans of an artist’s work. Some people respond to art from a purely visual perspective and some people need context, a story, to comprehend what they see, to internalize it, and to understand the reasons for their attraction for any given piece of art.

In my artist statement I emphasize that I create whilst in a meditative state in which I ruminate on my emotions toward an aspect of my internal or external realms. These emotions dictate my palette choice, my hands’ movements, my gestures that apply paint or delicately choose my mark-making. My thoughts and feelings are the real inspirers of the images I create on the painting surface, more than the literal perspective-- the organic or inorganic forms, the wealth of potential subjects--, that surround me.

These days there are many calamities and injustices that make their way into my art, climate crisis and the pandemic being the main inspirers of my current artwork. But not too long ago, I created while ruminating on emotions derived by my search for solutions to personal issues. I have painted inspired by my search for identity, my family influences, personal dilemmas, nostalgia, or loss, among others. Creating gives me the chance to come to terms with my maladies and those of the world...

A while ago, I made a few art pieces inspired by loss. We lose loved ones. One day they are talking to you, laughing with you, and then their lives are cut short. They stay in our memories, and time helps us heal, but the emptiness in our hearts feels infinite... We lose time sometimes, dreading potential dramas or realities we cannot change… As we grow, we lose who we were; we lose our youth, and all too often, with that, we lose our capacity to laugh out loud, act silly and live life to the fullest… Some of us lose our babies, and those of us who have them, lose them as they grow. While we enjoy that their lives are blooming, and we feel their successes as if they were our own, we miss cuddling them in our arms… We miss opportunities, mainly because we are afraid to be judged or speak up… Sometimes life presents us with the wild card of a disease that impairs our health and our prospects… Way too often we lose the place we identified as our home… In the end, loss, like change, is inevitable. Loss, and the wisdom that it painfully brings, give us a chance to develop our resilience and prepares us for the many tests that life has in store for us, in our horizon.

Image: “Loss”, oil on canvas paper, 12 x 9 inches, sold. Although this work is unavailable, please feel free to browse through my website if you are interested in my artworks. If you have questions, please contact me here.