Interview from Colombia

I have been interviewed by Catalina López, a Colombian designer and correspondent of the Spanish art magazine Arte y Parte. She also has a wonderful association called Fundación Promedio. They are making really interesting work, such as the documentary Tumaco Pacífico, that shows the life of the fihsermen of the Colombian pacific coast. She asked me about my work in the Of Fishes And Birds exhibition. Here is a traslation of what I answered. I hope I was accurate.

Q: Could you describe briefly the Of Fishes And Birds project?
A: Of Fishes And birds is a collective exhibition organized by three Dutch artists: Kitty Kilian, Titi Zaadnoordijk and Inge Koenen. Each one of the artists taking part, has been invited by one of them. The project is a leoporello with screen prints, etchings and photographies on the subject of the fishes and birds. It will be up on different galleries between 2010 and 2011.

Q: How did you become part of the group?
A: Kitty Kilian had seen my work on Illustration Friday. IF is a webpage where you send an illustration related to the subject they propose each week. Every friday they choose a “pic of the week”, and that week mine had been elected. Kitty contacted me and we started emailing each other. She invited me to the Of Fishes And Birds group and I accepted delighted.

Q: What challenge has there been in this exhibition for you?
A: The main challenge was technical. It was a requirement that the artwork would be 30 x 30 cm. I don't have space to make a print that big, so I proposed to use my Print Gocco instead. PG is a Japanese toy to make scree prints at home. The screens are 10 x 15 and come with the emulsion applied. The machine imprints the design onto the mesh. As a challenge, I forced myself to use the whole space of the paper. Even if that meant that my image would have to be fragmented.

Q: Which work do you participate with and what was your intention creating it?
A: I have submitted two artworks: One, is the print that came out of all that Gocco process. It is a fish, cut in three and some birds on it. Mi intention was to create a bit of a disturbing image. I also wanted to use a Colombian species. I didn't want to use a parrot or a hummingbird. I had seen, on flickr, a bird called Paradise Tanager. It is found in the amazon of Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. They are black, with blue breast and an apple green mask.
One of the subjects I wanted to explore with this work, was the first impression paradox. We've been told that the first impression is what counts. But when one leaves his cultural references aside (eg. When you travel), the prejudice behind that idea becomes evident. In my image, one doesn't know if the birds are nesting or looking for something. The look like thugs, the fish is dead and in pieces. Why are they there? Are they good, or bad? Are they looking for something? Or have they found it?
The second piece is a mobile of the fish and the Paradise Tanagers. I like the space mobiles create. And to play with the weight and the length of the sticks. In this artwork the birds have nested in the fish.