I Paint Life
My focus has always been on figuration and realism. Every day brings a new story, a new challenge, a new struggle. I choose the people around me as my subject — the closest, the most honest, the most vulnerable.
From an early age, I was captivated by the works of the old masters — their skills, their techniques, their dedication. Looking back, I realize I gravitated toward figurative painting because it was the closest thing to creating something truly different — something others couldn’t, or wouldn’t dare to. It was a way to challenge myself.
I spent a short time perfecting technique and process, but quickly moved on to what mattered more: the message. The psychological, moral, and ethical values I want to represent. The inner struggles my subjects carry within themselves.
A Visible Process
In my figurative paintings and portraits, the process is there for all to see — raw, unfiltered, imperfect. The brushstroke remains on the canvas. My presence remains in the painting. That is precisely what sets them apart from the realm of hyperrealism.
When I began working this way, I knew it would become a guiding principle: take no prisoners. I went to learn from the best in the world — to Madrid, to the studios of Eloy Morales and Antonio López Garcia — and made significant strides, both in technique and in understanding my own artistic voice.
Inspiration Beyond Borders
My influences and teachers are far removed from the environment in which I live and create. That distance was invaluable — it gave me strength to reach further, to aim higher, and above all, a deep sense that everything is possible.
I want to do something rarely done in contemporary figurative art: leave the viewer outside their comfort zone. Make them stand in front of the canvas and ask themselves whether what they are experiencing is actually possible. That is the space where I try to survive and create. It is what keeps me going — though I’ll admit, it isn’t always easy.
Painting as Ritual
Almost every day, I ask myself countless questions. There is only ever one answer: creation.
That daily ritual gives me a reason to live — a ritual of constant learning, of changing, of choosing the harder path, of never stopping to question, of keeping a clear head and holding onto faith. My paintings are like painted diaries, telling me when I was happy, when I was afraid, when I painted in a trance… and when I was hungry.
For me, painting is like breathing.
