Artistic Manifesto - 02/24/2025

   Lately, I have been searching for alternatives to expand my painting.

   Working with wood as a support has been one of my current concerns. Approaching this material with a constructive perspective has allowed me to go beyond creating works based solely on classical structures, such as a stretched canvas on a frame.

At some point, the idea began to weigh on me that I wasn't truly doing anything new if I continued presenting my paintings within the logic of the classic flag format. Moreover, on a practical level, I have always been bothered by the instability of the stretched canvas while working. Thus, wood emerged as a solution to bring more rigidity and enable new layers of construction.

   By abandoning the traditional presentation of the turned and stapled canvas, I started exploring the juxtaposition of materials and revealing the processes involved. The staples, which would have previously been hidden, now become part of the composition, assuming their presence without disguise. This layering of elements creates distinct planes and breaks with the idea of a "perfect" finish.

   Working with aspects beyond the mere creation of an image—such as the support structure, the material's tension, its weight, and scale—has allowed me to break free from attitudes that previously anchored my art.

I feel that I am becoming less abstract in my journey and more conceptual. My research is moving away from representation and closer to materiality and gesture. I am interested in hardware, rubber, and paper.

   Hardware allows me to build while simultaneously highlighting and critiquing humanity's immense industrial potential. Rubber, on the other hand, emerges from my connection with surfing. Let me explain this paradox: surfing is a sport deeply connected to nature, offering an infinite sense of well-being. However, living in Portugal, the cold water requires the use of a neoprene wetsuit—a petroleum-derived material that is extremely harmful to the environment. This contrast has sparked my interest in this surface, as it symbolizes both humanity’s relationship with nature and its dependence on artificial materials.

   Paper, in turn, has gained space in my practice because it has historically been more associated with drawing than with painting. Drawing, often considered secondary in art history, fascinates me for its ability to embrace risks, experimentation, and mistakes. It frees me from the pursuit of perfection and allows me to remain in a constant state of artistic evolution.

Every choice I make carries an emotion, but it is necessary to balance what I feel with what I seek to express. My intention is not just to convey emotions but to investigate the physical presence of materials and their possibilities. Less illusion, more plastic truth.