Artist Statement FILS I COLORS

In this series of works, I attempt to find the third dimension through the use of different materials. Initially, I removed paint from the artistic equation by slicing the works, combining canvas and paper with selected materials.

Gradually, the slicing gained more importance, a reflection, perhaps, of my increased desire to be more aggressive.  The result, however, although possessing more physical dimension, remained static and I realized paint was needed to provide freshness and movement.

Embroidery provides another element as it created thick shadows with organic shapes. When combined with light, these shapes offer different views of the work to various observers.

The interaction between the artist, gravity, and the paint is important for the final result.  The technique I’ve employed attempts to eliminate the absolute imprint of the artist’s hand.  This permits the paint to be a major architect of the final result, giving it a life of its own.

It should be noted this results in infinite and timeless color combinations.  In many cases, the different layers of color each represent a temporary state of mind, time, and even places and people.

FILS I COLORS is an attempt to find life, movement and parts that are not static, that change in their interaction with the observer.   It is also essential that the different combinations of colors represent different emotions and interpretations for each individual interacting with the works.

Raul de la Torre, December 2011

Artist Statement CITIES series

 My artwork in the last four years has covered a number of series, each with a different theme, using different materials, textures and techniques.  In spite of having worked on a number of large series of paintings, none of them had more than ten paintings.  The only point of unity among the different works was a quest for discovery.

 It is true that experimentation with different materials, textures and techniques in each of the paintings has been a point of discovery and a major part of my artwork.

 My more recent objective was to pursue a work of art where I could develop a long series of pieces with the same theme.

 In October of 2007 I embarked on a series of works to realize this objective.  I started on the first paintings in the series of CIUTATS (Cities).

 The first difference of this series from that of all my previous works is the united theme, the second, most accentuated difference was the greater use of color which was typically less pronounced in previous works of the last four years.

 The major motivation for the idea behind CIUTATS was my city, Barcelona, and it's particular infrastructure, and architecture which is unique among the cities of the world and which is easily recognizable.  My personal attraction to the great cities of the world and the urban life was the remaining incentive.

 I have intended to portray the different aspects of the cities as a human creation with their different levels of physical and social existence.

 Man created the city and in turn the city has molded the actions and ideas of the human race.  I have intended to mold the city, to create my city, to put in order the urban chaos in a reduced physical space.

 Forget that the cities in which we live have been formed with asphalt, cement, human misery, forgotten revolutions, buried bones and transform them into a conglomeration of texture and color put onto the frontier of canvas and paper.

 Raul de la Torre