REMEMBER, YEARN AND UNLEARN
A white canvas evokes nothingness, it is that space of purity where there coexist at the same time, infinite pictorial probabilities, just before the artist observes and acts consciously when deciding what his delivery will be. That's why my first act before the infertile whiteness of the format is to cover it with pigments. Although I know that the final result will be a figurative art, where human and landscape will coexist in some scene -whether nostalgic or playful- the act of moving the wet colors on the support gives me the strange but pleasant sensation of discovering hidden moods after an ephemeral abstraction. And everything is unconsciously planned. That painting lies dormant inside me. I usually say that the muses do not come from outside, they only sleep inside.
The essential objective of every creator is the improvement of those communication channels between the subconscious universe and his craft as an artist. In my work, the great masses of dense vegetation in the distance, merging with a water-stained sky, or the sinuous play of the foreground leaves flirting with the characters, is my way of recalling that primitive uniqueness that is the heritage of all what exists, unfortunately broken by contemporary society. I am pleased to reproduce the simple manufacture of wicker chairs in intimate contact with the vines and how entropy returns yarey hats and guano ceilings to nature. The beauty of a real palm - that to say of a friend poet; it looks like a shack without making-and the relationship between the lantern light before the silver majesty of a summer moon.
If we ever felt the fullness, that oneness was in childhood. Artists of enormous size understood this and focused their efforts on recovering the lost innocence, the result of an educational system that rationalizes everything, and in most cases detracts from it. Unfortunately, the biggest challenge is to unlearn and do it well. Much of modern society tries to reach or return to these "states of grace" in ways that are not precisely art, or other ways of cultivating their spirituality.
My childhood was marked by the dark blue of the newly released night, where the stars twinkled and the amber glow of the lights of the houses in the same scene. By the smell of burning coal and the sound of the strings of a lute. Roosters and chickens nestled in the low branches of a clammy cherry. The house of my grandparents full of festive people, "guateques" with "décimas" and tunes ... stories of apparitions and lullabies. Each character, whether human, animal or insect, was the protagonist of my environment from the same state of consciousness. That world, as real as illusory and as common as it was mysterious, was also beautified by the great love that united my family. I always thought it was a safe place.
The inhabitant of the Cuban countryside is not a separate entity. It was the result of the confluence between several cultures that gave rise to one's own -of course a lot of wealth- but it is still part of a common place in every society, no matter how distant or exotic it may be. In the Cuban peasant environment coexist rudeness and sensitivity, wisdom and ingenuity in perfect relationship. They have very peculiar ways of graphically reflecting their reality but they stand out for the improvised poetry and its profuse mythology that has numerous points in common with other cultures of America. This fact motivates me to try to elaborate concepts from my own experience, knowing that the points of contact are universal. It is not just that I feel responsible for caring for and promoting the origins and development of an ethnic group or a country, it is rather an act of sincerity, when dealing with issues of global concern from my personal perspective.
Any action that leads me to look at life through other eyes, would empty my proposal of an authentic meaning. That is why to focus on the national is to identify myself, especially when my art today is produced from exile. My materials are still oil on canvas or mixed media on paper or cardboard. The use of layers, textures and glazes together with a meticulous brushstroke characterizes me until now. The distortion of the figures and the play with naive art are also constant. Knowing that in advance there is a communication between my dreams and longings with the hand that produces the work, helps me overcome the confusion before a blank canvas. It is an infinite pleasure to remember, yearn and unlearn through my paintings. So far it is the experience that I can best share.
October 2017
