CERCLE 5

Insects, sportsmen, hard faces with empty gazes, roofs,… there have been many iconic figures throughout your life Of course. My father was a romantic and my work is the result of idealisation. I try to give my paintings a poetic content, even in sport, where the slenderness of the figures sometimes makes them seem somewhat ef- feminate, which is something that worries me because what really interests me is getting a stylized architectural style, almost a musical one. I am from the Italian school. I admire Piero della Francesca and Modigliani, among others. For a while I was able to train at the Fiesole school, in Arezzo, where I was fortunate to have to a Capuchin Friar as a teacher who was very smart and knew how to educate me artistically. Many of your works I seem ethereal, dreamlike...where would your dreams take you? To beyond, I’d say I always have a point of reference with which I work. I idealise a lot and my dreams always transport me to times past, often in Italy. I understand that the culmination of art took place during the Renais- sance. What is it that attracted you to Japanese paper? I was in Japan, at an exhibition, and accidentally entered a paper shop. It is a wonderful thing that they have made by hand for centuries. I found one whose texture was similar to the surface of an altarpiece but without the thickness, which it was ideal for working on. When I left altarpieces it could be said that I got divorced completely from the technique to be able to access a more creative and avant-garde type of painting. What remains for you to do? While my grandfather, who died at the age of 97, used to eat bread with chocolate, he confessed to having been unable to make the most important work of his life. I believe that among the thousands of works that I have been able to do throughout my life, there are a dozen paintings that are very valuable to me. One of them belongs to the Olympic Committee and one of them represents a female figure with a dragonfly. It represents an art-deco jewel which belonged to my mother, a pendentif with great symbolic value. What you would like to have done and have failed to do? Sculpture. The sculptor remains hidden in my soul. I was as a trainee for three months with a Catalan sculptor called Coscolla, who was a really iras- cible character. I realized howmuch I liked sculpture while in his workshop despite the fact that as a result of his abrupt ways, I had some pretty diffi- cult experiences. What has painting brought you? The painting has allowed me to live well and have hope about almost everything, human contact, to open your eyes in the morning and see the sun... it has been a passion that has helped me and helps me to live. How would you like to be remembered? As a passionate stylistic painter, with a line between Cubism and Roman- esque. I enjoy painting, I am a selfless person, very closed in on myself, but still open to others. But above all, I think it is important to have enough skill to then allow yourself the luxury of letting your hair down. █ 11