On Women

Why do you always have women in your art? is usually what people ask me when in an exhibition...
Well, I can tell you this, there have been many answers to this along my career... all of them true in the context they were delivered. The most frequent one being: why not? =D
    The truth is, an artist MUST create from something that stirs him, really moves him... deep down in his heart. Its all about transmitting a deep feeling. What this is does not matter, can be a tree, a landscape, a horse, a statement... or... in my case... women. I tend to believe that the reason for this is that I want to convey beauty, I want to convey love.
 
I know, this is definitely NOT a trendy thing today. In fact, when working on my thesis: what happened to beauty in art? I found it was a subject that is almost despised. A REAL artist and true art is supposed to stir controversy, polemic, raise social questions... make us open our eyes. I found this hard to digest... and I am not saying art can´t be all those things. But I do believe there is no formula for what art is... if and when you create from your heart, it is ART. =D

My mom... the most beautiful, loving and supporting one can get. its a known fact that the first years in your life, affect you forever... no wonder I associate women with love and beauty... no need to be Sigmund to grasp that.

                                                    sketch (early 90´s)
And why then, are my women often naked? =D  Can imagine what Freud would say... I blame this on Franco =D    i was brought up under a regime of dictatorship, where nudity was, amongst other much more important things, banned. I remember people drove from Barcelona to France to see the first "Emanuele" movie (VERY erotic at the time... true birth of Porn)... and I also remember me and my friends checking out naked bodies in magazines at the paper factory my Dad was directing, Tampella española (magazines were brought in from all around Europe to be transformed into quality cardboard). So, as an artist.... what could possibly be more luring than the forbidden?

And so, I have sketched them, painted them, carved them... tried to mold them into different aspects of love. Well over 30 years I have worked with this (believe my first female figures started arising around 14).

My son Napoleon interpreted at a very tender age my doings, on one of my diaries. The text beside his picture says:
                                 The guy came down from heaven to grab Sevil Aslanova.

    And make no mistake, KIDS don´t lie!  =D =D =D