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ability of a face to convey so much complexity simply with a small gestural change. For me it is not about reproducing an image, but about understanding what is happening in front of me. Interpreting a form, observing how light affects it and transforms it, decoding a silent language that needs to be heard. I try to listen to what some eyes tell me and express it with a vigorous and fluid stroke, a directional line that generates movement. e process of making a portrait begins by locating the most characteristic features of the face that define a person. Generally the gaze is the feature that defines us most, but it depends on the person. e shape of the lips, for example, can be an essential part that takes us into their personality. Once I analyze his most determining physiological features I look for a photograph that captures his personality well. e search for the image to make the portrait of is one of the most important steps. Tell me about the LEG Project and the collaboration with David Partida, your childhood friend. How did you reunite? In 2005 I was living in Barcelona and David moved there too. Both of us were already working as professionals in the art world. We got together and decided to create a common artistic project. We bought a fabric of 10 meters, and painted it in two evenings on a rooop in Barcelona. During our stay in Barcelona we had the opportunity to meet people from different countries and cultures, very different from ours. I think it made us see the same reality with different approaches. We realized that being in the art world is not just locking yourself in a studio in order to create or produce. You need to know how to handle yourself in other areas that are part of the art industry. You can have a good idea, but if you do not know how to communicate or sell it, you will never pass the door of your workshop. For five years we worked together on the project. In 2010 we decided to go separate ways although we have since stayed in contact. What was the vision for LEG? How would you describe the aesthetic and direction of the project? e vision that we had was always to create a vital project beyond the artistic one. e profession of a painter is quite lonely, from the creative process to the physical activity of painting. You spend many hours locked in the workshop. Our idea was to share those experiences, trips, exhibitions, performances, etc, not only among us, but to surround ourselves with people, friends, who collaborated on the project in other facets such as representation, communication, design and organization. e concept was to be closer to a music band than a group of plastic arts. Each painting we painted was focused as a performance, a visceral impulse. e reflection was prior to starting the painting. Once the portrait began, we let ourselves be carried more by irrational impulses. A constant dialogue between construction and the destruction of forms. Since going your own way to develop your own vision for the project, you've talked about focusing on the portrayal of the individual in modern society. Has that always been your intention or is that idea just now starting to materialize? Since I started focusing my work on portraits I have always tried to have my vision of the society that we live in, reflected in my work. rough portraits, they show the capability of human beings without hiding its imperfections, I don't wish to stay in the surface of our own attitudes. ere are always hidden motives which are determining the way we choose to act in any given situation. To explore these hidden reasons that move our emotions, turns my work into a fascinating journey. Which artist (if any) has most inspired you throughout your career? Do you ever reference them? I am mainly inspired by people I have met throughout my life. I know a lot of people who are artists and/or work with artistic projects and others who don´t. All of them enrich you in one way or another. To paint, you really only need a space and paint. In order to create, you need something else; a context to explore, a belief to externalize, a glance that will make you change. Amongst the painters that have inspired my work the most are masters such as Francis Bacon, Gustav Klimt and Picasso. ere are also contemporary artists such as Jenny Saville, Lita Cabellut, Jeremy Mann and Cian McLoughlin who are also references to me. VUE ON ART V U E N J . C O M 73

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