The City XIV Painting

My interests as an artist are very diverse but at present I work primarily as a painter. I trained as a portraitist and I retain a keen interest in the human figure and figurative painting, but, at the same time, and since my graduation, I have been busy developing an abstract and semi-abstract pictorial language. My work with the human figure ranges from quick studies in a variety of media (graphite, chalk, ink and watercolour, among others) to larger pieces and finished portraits. Some pieces are quick and instinctual responses, others are the result of careful observation and a longer work process. The starting point for my abstract pieces can be a quick improvisation using colour or collage, a play with composition on a piece of paper, a photograph of a cityscape or landscape which is abstracted on the canvas, or, at the other extreme (as in the case of my ongoing Dénia series) an investigation into memory and emotion which is processed into a pictorial piece. I create work because I see creativity as a necessity. Even when the starting point for a given work is technical or very playful the creative process is loaded with feeling. The expression of emotion is at the heart of my practice. I was born and grew up in the city of Valencia, in Eastern Spain, but have lived in the UK for the last twenty years and am currently based in South London. I have been a studioholder at Turf Projects in Croydon, South London, since October 2017. My work is held in private collections in the UK, the US and Spain.