Mamaroneck, NY

Artist statement
In the current body of work, begun five years ago, I employ primitive symbols and archetypal images to explore both the universal human condition and my own individual experience. Personal images emerge unconsciously, so that painting is more a case of possession, rather than the work of representation.

I am interested in our origins, in pre-mythological man and his integration into the surrounding world. This concern is present at the beginning of all of my paintings, whether they depict a landscape, an animal, or a studio interior. I believe that my birth in northern Spain, a land that is archeologically rich with pre-historic caves and a source of magic and mystery, has greatly influenced my work.

My starting points for paintings are always the sketches in my notebook. I try to rescue symbols that resemble organic forms, whether a part of nature or made by man, so that I can re-create and better understand them. My creative process usually lasts between six and seven weeks, and I am always working on two paintings at the same time. Both works are very similar at the start no matter how different the final paintings.

I begin with a mixture of materials such as cement, plaster, glue, sand, shells, pebbles, and wood. I cover the canvas with the mixture, creating a base that resembles destroyed ruins or an eroded cave wall, in which I can find the traces of the story that gives birth to the painting. The method that I use is more of a taking away than adding, and letting the material evolve into its own unique form. I work with the rough surface to simulate the beauty and texture of earth and sea.

The subjects of my paintings range from the artist in her studio, an introverted look at the creative process, to a feminist vision of creation as a period of gestation, to the bull as a totem of female power. In these works one color dominates–I am more interested in the paintings’ physical appeal to the senses rather than to the intellect.

In my work, I explore the eternal soul and seek out the roots of our most primitive existence. It is at once both old and new and I hope it leaves no one unaffected.