The most powerful influence in my development as an artist has been my relationship with my dear friend, teacher, and mentor in life, Julio Alpuy. Alpuy, from the original Joaquin Torres-García workshop, El Taller Torres-García (the most significant art community of its time in Latin America, 1943-1962) inspired my passion for painting.

My work is guided by the principals of abstraction; to simplify in order to expose the subject’s essence. Though I may work from a model, it is first and foremost a painting, separate from the model, constructed with elements of line, tone, and form. The still life in a painting is not merely an illusion of the real thing. It is transposed into a plastic equivalent. The painting takes on its own reality independent from its inspiration.

Using a limited palette, I am forced to pay close attention to value. Rather than attempting to imitate the exact color in a still life, for example, I aim to capture the expression of that color.

I sometimes use a mathematical system of proportion called the Golden Section in order to create even greater unity in my work. Much of the great art of ancient cultures was constructive, based on a geometric plan. This included Egyptian art with its pyramids, Gothic cathedrals, Mayan art, and art of the Inca. This system of proportion was believed to reflect the harmonic order of the universe and establishes unity by relating the parts to each other and to the whole. I aim to create a painting where all of the elements work together to form a new reality of structural and tonal harmony.

When art is able to express the essential truth of the model within the essential realm of painting, it becomes both inventive and poetic, revealing a metaphysical and spiritual dimension.

 

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