110 SPRING 2019
How difficult is it to find that balance between
the realistically rendered eyes, and let's say, a
cartoonish, very flat background? That you don't
go too realistic, too flat, too childish, let's say?
It's very difficult. The question is, I know that
I'm a painter. I want to make a painting. But
sometimes you can say, “Let's go, I can do
something more realistic,” or more abstractions,
but I want to be in the middle. I can paint very
realistically, but also, I don't want to see myself
doing realistic paintings in the future. Because
maybe that is not painting anymore, something
like a photograph, a representation. For example,
Mark Rothko. His work is also in my paintings.
Very flat paintings, not many elements. So I want
to keep this moment that one part of the painting
is well-rendered or finished, and other is very
expressive or casual.How much of the work is intuitive and
spontaneous? How much of your process
involves sketching?
I always try to do some sketches before the
painting, and I also make sketches for the
drawings. Then I forget the sketches and just go
with the flow! For example, the bodies, the eyes,
the head, they have to be a bit strange. If you do a
good sketch, it's very easy to make it perfect. Butin the painting, it's not easy to balance everything.
Eyes need to be just right, but the T-shirt, the body,
hands... I cannot think of a more stupid way to
draw them than this. But not the faces, the eyes,
and the mouth.What is, for you, the most important part of the
work process?
The most important part is when I feel the
moment that I want to paint. I'm very Spanish
sometimes, and not this kind of Spanish that
I would paint only two paintings in one year
and just relax for the rest. But I have to work
every day, every day, every day, a lot, a lot, a
lot. Because if I stop working, I stop working.
It's that I don't want to work. And the most
important thing is when I'm feeling that I want
to paint. Sometimes, I'm painting because I'm
professional, but sometimes you feel that you are
painting because you are an artist. You are happy
when you paint. Sometimes, you are painting,
and your mind, your emotions, are all in the
painting. This is the moment when you can find
something new. It’s an emotional moment.The size of canvases you are working on now are
pretty much custom made, right?! How did you
come to that size and format?
For the size of a canvas, I need a human size.
I'm not very tall, so I need to reach the whole
painting with just my hand. I did try working with
bigger ones, but then I have to jump and climb
things. And I want it within my reach cause it's
like a dance sometimes. You need to work with
something that you can manage.You obviously have an urge, a need to produce,
to make things. Is this because you just want to
be creative, or is it because you have a certain
message you want to send?
I do both because I found in my life that is the
best thing I like to do. And I like to do things that
I enjoy. For example, when I do a character, I'm
not thinking about the audience. I'm thinking
about me, about how to do it. I have to produce
this kind of magic we were talking about. And
I always follow this emotionally. But when I finish
the work, I need to find somebody who will like
it. The audience is as important as art. Vittorio
Gassman, the Italian director said, "One actor—
one spectator—the theater." So one actor without
somebody who will watch, it’s nothing. I feel like
the same thing goes for art—a painting without
people, it’s nothing.You always loved installations. First, they were
small-scale, but now your shows are usually one
big installation. Why is that important for you?
It’s important because I have so many elements
from the past that I like to recover. Sometimes
I do these big pencils or new characters. I like to
play with the scales and make them small and
big scales. Like Gulliver. Also, I had no space or
possibilities to realize these big installations inAbove: Words, Mixed media on paper, 27.5” x 39”, 2018