Feb 10

Feb 10 ARTIST ARMANDO MESÍAS

Art, Creative People, Culture, Interviews

Armando Mesías is an artist focusing on abstract painting and drawing.

Armando Mesias is originally from Cali, Colombia and has since moved, studied, worked and lived in Bogotá, London, Barcelona, and is currently based in Madrid, where he set up his studio in 2020.

Your greatest inspirations or influences Armando?

I always feel like my strongest influences don't come from art, but from my surroundings. My work tries to be very reflective of that by dealing with topics of identity, passing of time, decay and the subconscious. On an aesthetic level, I've been greatly influenced by abstract impressionism, minimalism, film, old masters, advertisement and punk rock. However I try not to constrain my references in order to be able to flow and develop more open explorations.

I'm constantly curious about stuff happening in the studio that was not intended to happen. Different works mixing together, splatters, stains, dirt, footprints. I try to use these cues as starting points and develop a sort of dialogue between my conscious self, my unconscious and randomness. Then some stuff starts to happen on the canvases. Some of it really spontaneous, some actions pursue activation of the matter outside the plain, and some more controlled and figurative. I try to let the process surprise me, and very rarely work out of sketches or strategy.

Tell us a bit about your creative process?

More than specific works, I take great pride and focus on the fact that I've been able to understand this process better and better, and that it leads me more into a path where I need to reflect on nothing but the work itself, and let go of outside pressures or influence. It is a big leap that I think every artist goes through at some point, but that makes the work more relatable and honest, paradoxically by making it more rare and unique.

How has this year changed your creativity or how you see the world changing moving forward?

Most of what I saw happening in 2020 seemed more to me like an acceleration of existing trends. A return to local networks, slower pace of living, less quantity and more quality of travels. And a lot of relying on technology for everyday chores (which to me has both upsides as well as downsides). For me it's been an opportunity to focus more on my work, less around the art world, which also seemed long overdue.

I think global channels (such as social media) making the art world more democratic and accessible will in turn affect creativity and hopefully nurture more distinct views and create more discussions, dialogue and like-minded communities around art making, lifestyle, creativity, etc. The time for huge numbers, massive online audiences, and instant gratification is slowly passing, and we are getting a more conscious and quality driven use of communication tools.