viernes, 5 de octubre de 2012

Federico Guzmán at Mecánica Gallery, Seville



                                                           Tripolar Gift. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter

This summer, my friend the Uruguayan artist Daniel Ybarra has given me a huge gift by inviting me to work for a month and a half in his Geneva studio. In a generous and bold gesture, Daniel sent me the plane tickets and handed me over the keys of a large, well-conditioned studio in an industrial area of ​​the city. Working with Daniel in this improvised artistic residence in Switzerland has not only rescued me from isolating myself in the heat of Seville’s summer: his enthusiasm has given me an unforgettable experience of dialogue and creativity.





So I have stepped into my friend’s studio, starting a new expedition to the everyday. Traveling here gives me the perspective of a geography of the world and the imagination, a journey from the city to the forest, and from the desert once again to where ever: to the place where I get lost when i’m a child, a timeless space, painting, doing crafts or just lying on my back staring at the empty ceiling.



                                                             Water Birds. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter

Among the abundance of painting materials in the workshop I discovered some tondos: a set of round canvases stacked on one side, which immediately excited me. To work in a circular format suggested me of an orbit, of riding a wave, a spiral journey to cycle, continuously connecting the inside with the outside, in and out of personal experience.




                                                                  Open Your Leaves. Acrylic / canvas, 16 inches diameter


Fueled with acrylic colors like shamanic potions, I ventured into the white circle, painting in search of an inner axis, a center of gravity, a gyroscope to navigate the recurring oscillations to the extremes. Painting every day has given me balance and taught me to value the creative moment and the connection to the source. In a moment, I have recalled the memorable words of Francis of Assisi: "Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and suddenly you begin to do the impossible."




                                                           The Solar Plant. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter

The recommendation of the saint may as well illustrate the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann’s discovery of LSD. In his fascinating little book Outer World, Inner World, the scientist describes the separation of the individual and the cosmos as a kind of dellusion of the senses. Hofmann tells us that as a child, in one of his walks in the woods, for a few minutes experienced a state of mystical union with nature, after which there remained a sense of belonging with the environment like he had never felt before. The scientist never forgot that first experience in the forests and chemistry gave him a way to return to it.




                                                          Outer World, Inner World. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter

Painting with acrylic I usually work by layers. Sometimes it's like peeling the layers of an onion to get inside myself. So I have found the paradox that the personal search takes us beyond the personal. Within the last layer of onion there is the universe. In the words of another Swiss visionary, Carl Gustav Jung: "Your vision will become clearer only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. "




                                                                   Green Heart. Lacquer / mirror, 40 inches diameter




                                                            The Pineapple. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter


                                                                    Inner Rainbow. Acrylic / canvas, detail

The gaze that flows between the exterior and the interior reminds me that the hermetic adage "as above, so below", could be extended "as inside so outside." I imagine a continuum between the seer and what is seen in a shared process of vision. To illustrate this we can think of the rainbow: a physical phenomenon that is private, because we can’t share a rainbow with others. Each observer sees a different rainbow, even if we have the illusion of seeing the same rainbow. It doesn’t exists as an independent phenomenon in the world or as a separate image of what is perceived: consciousness is spread among sunlight, rain, the nervous system ... and generates a transient experience of the rainbow. Perhaps the metaphor often used to describe thinking and consciousness as a river is directly inspired by the flow that is the world and the interdependence of all phenomena: the unnamed Tao is said in moving.




                                                                      Inner Rainbow. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter




                                                               A Rose Is A Rose, Is A Rose. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter

Flowing with painting means to let go and find things that only come out when you are fully present, engaged in the activity. The Vietnamese poet and peace activist Thich Naht Han, has written about the importance of mindfulness and full presence in the everyday. In a letter he explains that there are two ways to do the dishes: one is to do the dishes to wash the dishes, and another is to do the dishes to do the dishes. According to the Sutra of Mindfulness, while doing so one must be fully alert to be scrubbing process. At first glance it may seem silly, why worry about something so simple? But that is precisely the issue. The process to be there doing the dishes is a wonderful reality, like painting without thinking of the outcome.




                                                                                Sunflower Cells. Acrylic / canvas, detail



                                                                  Sunflower Cells. Acrylic / canvas, 40 inches diameter

The secret I have learned painting is that the process of making our work is not something to be overcome, but that where true joy is waiting for us to be discovered. Any artistic quest is infinite by its own nature. We never get to be as good as we could be. The art form is always greater than our ability or technical level. The recognition of this certainty can bring a sense of fatigue as if we were running in a treadmill trying to reach a mythical point of perfection that does not exist. But it can also serve as an awakening, recognizing the perception that we never reach the end of our artistic evolution. As we follow the individual path we build a relationship with the spirit of our art that continually reveals new secrets as our ability to understand it expands.

Federico Guzmán





Outer World, Inner World por Federico Guzmán se encuentra bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución 3.0 Unported. Basada en una obra en outerworldinnerworld.blogspot.com.