Simple Things
Geometric Figures and the Human Body
Understanding People
"Simple Things" is a project that arose from a need to understand people; the intricate way of human thought and emotion, and how tiny differences in our bodies and facial features are able to define us as individuals. By adding geometric figures to the composition I try to communicate and simplify something that has always been perceived as messy and complicated; people.
When drawing, I try to see people as a combination of geometric figures made out of light and shadow, rather than bodies. When put together, those seemingly simple shapes become a complex structure.
Geometric Figures
Adding geometry to the composition works as a way to imply the importance of all those simple shapes; they are, after all, what makes us unique. These shapes, contrary to the faces or bodies, are colored with one tone, which I associate to the person I am drawing. Geometric figures have had numerous symbolisms and meanings throughout history, and the circle especially, holds many symbolic meanings.
Circles appear as sacred symbols in almost every culture, ancient and new; they represent the holy, the central focus, and infinity. By placing them on top of the subjects, I am granting them the holiness and centrality that I believe is inherit to the human body, rather than a quality only deities or supernatural beings posses.
Permanence and Ephemerality
The playful composition, contrasting colors, and strong outlines give the drawings an energetic quality, a combination of permanence and ephemerality. This is why the medium also plays a significant role in my drawings; how to capture something that changes constantly? How to make it stay the same? Those questions are what led me to start drawing with ballpoint-pen and markers.
Ink cannot be erased; it is permanent. It doesn’t smudge or fade. It is strong and vibrant. That’s why I mainly use ballpoint-pen, I want to capture and leave a permanent record of how a person was at the specific moment when I portrayed them, and how I was in relation to them.
Simple Things was created out of an urge for introspection, as well as a way to undertand those who surround me. But I hope that when looking at it, people can do the same for themselves; try to see beyond the faces and bodies, find those shapes, the details and nuances that form our identities. Those simple things are latent in all of us, and they are the core to who we are.