Pensamiento

Yesterday in my studio, during one of those moments when I get lost in my thoughts, I looked at a one of my works and I was reaffirmed in my conviction that a painting must be “painted” from the very first brushstrokes. If you create a background in order to paint over it, it can become merely a “smudged surface” where to place figures. I am still convinced that painting has a life of its own; that is why, whatever we paint on an empty canvas, whatever serves as a base for the finished work, has a soul. It has a life of its own from the very beginning, in the same way a child is born with theri own life and soul, independent from that of the mother who birthed him… who also has a soul. 

That is why painting over a previous piece that serves as a base for the new one helps the painter infuse life into the new work. My paintings are matter over other matter that has already come to life. It is what I call knowing how to erase, simply fitting a painting over another one that serves as a base for it, knowing fully well that in the first painting lays the “embryo” of the finished work. 

It is my belief that figuration is the best foundation for abstraction. 

The soul cannot be seen but it is what sustains life. Figuration as a foundation can’t be seen either, but it has a soul, and therefore a life that lies there beneath the tapestry of abstract lines. 

Jorge Rando, Malaga, October 2005