ARTIST LUCAS DE LA RUBIA
Born in 1986, Lucas de la Rubia is an artist and teacher based in Madrid. Althought mainly self-taught, he was mentored in his youth by painter and sculptor Manuel March. He continued his development coursing the first years of Architectural Studies, a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design and a diploma at the engraving workshop of Centro Nacional de las Artes de México.
Since 2017, he has had solo exhibitions at Caja del Arte in Torrejón de Ardoz, La Factoría de Papel, Galeria Movart, Matadero de Madrid, Garage B, We Collect Gallery, and the Institut für alles Mögliche in Berlin. He has also participated in group exhibitions at spaces such as the Mexican UVM University and the Casa de Indias in Cádiz, as well as events such as the Maison Japón Art Biennial (presented in Osaka and Madrid in 2014), the Cucurucho Urban Art Festival in Valladolid, and the La Rioja Young Artists Exhibition.
We are very excited to talk to you Lucas, please tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences?
My influences are multiple and constantly changing. It greatly depends on the creative moment I find myself in. If I'm in the midst of producing a piece, my influences are more related to poetry, dance, cinema, or music. When I'm in between creative processes or in the research phase, I really enjoy drawing inspiration from artists I have nearby, visiting their studios and exhibitions.
Tell us about your creative process.
My creative process has been quite consistent in recent years. I find that work routines work well for me. I try to harness the most creative and mental part of my process during the mornings. It's the time when I think best. I come up with better compositions and ideas for the pieces during this time. In the afternoons, I usually dedicate myself more to manual and mechanical work, such as cutting, sanding, assembling, etc.
My studio is the space where I have worked best so far, although lately I have been taking on projects in other spaces and I also feel very comfortable there.
Lucas, tell us about your most recent show and some upcoming projects you are developing.
My latest exhibited work was in the winter of this year. A solo show titled "Halo a ras.” It was a project comprised of sculptures, canvases, photographs, and a video piece. In this exhibition, I explored the theme of silence and the relationship between a body and an object. Later on, I created a book titled "Bye Yuki," which has just been published.
It is a book that brings together my works from 2018-2023, organized through a long interview conducted by curator Yuki Tanaka. Currently, I am immersed in the process of creating a large-scale piece designed to interact with the body. This project is being done in collaboration with dancer Nora Franco and is more focused on performance art.
What does wellbeing mean to you?
Wellbeing, for me, is having enough mental peace to think and act in the most honest way towards oneself and others.
Is there Anything else you would like to share?
As the sculptor Eduardo Chillida once said,
"Alert and free until the end, guided solely by an aroma."