A place where I lost myself in the joy of being

SKU 985

Mixed media on canvas

Dimensions 420 x 160 cm

This painting is part of a group of large-scale works developed in relation to the experience of landscape in a forested area in the interior of Portugal. From 2022 onwards, the artist established a studio there and undertook periods of residency in relative isolation. Limited contact with the few inhabitants of the surrounding area reinforced a condition of disconnection from habitual distractions, allowing for a deep immersion in the natural environment of this semi-abandoned place. In this setting, strong bonds with the landscape emerged—alongside an appreciation for silence and the reflective quality that working under such conditions entails.

“The feeling of what surrounds you is intense—you truly enter the landscape. Being here is the opposite of having the senses congested by noise. It is a place where agitated stories are left behind and life unfolds in a harmonious flow, as if the sharp edges of the world had been worn down by something imposing and unstoppable.

To fully engage with the potential of the site, a process of learning was necessary—entering the context with open eyes, not in the superficial manner of a weekend itinerary, but through unconditional immersion. It meant confronting, without fear, the forces and energies that in the past gave humankind a sense of its own smallness—an awareness that simultaneously affirmed its place within a larger order and its dependence on chance to survive and progress in such conditions.”

From the outset, the artist chose to work on a large scale, sensing that scale itself was essential to achieving the desired sense of immersion—of being inside the painting as one is inside the landscape while walking through the fields.

The first large-format works began in 2022. Rather than starting from blank canvases, the artist brought along earlier, unfinished works that seemed capable of entering into dialogue with this new phase. These canvases contained paintings from previous years with which he was not fully satisfied. Instead of discarding them, he turned them over and began painting on the reverse. However unresolved those earlier works may have been, they contained information worth preserving. The raw fabric on the back presented new challenges and possibilities. Because untreated cotton absorbs paint more readily, it allowed for fluid lines and a freer hand from the outset. A white ground was applied, over which one or two colours—typically acrylic and black ink—were used.

Most of the works thus developed two faces, front and back, introducing a new dimension in which past and present coexist on opposite sides of the same surface. Working on raw canvas demands a different approach from conventional techniques; its absorbency resembles that of paper. This quality made it possible to use charcoal over acrylic without the surface becoming sealed or “plasticised,” while also enabling transparency and successive layering. The method proved liberating: it allowed for greater speed and avoided the need for overly compact paint application.

Large formats also engage the whole body. Detail loses the prominence it holds in smaller works. When standing close to the canvas, one cannot fully grasp how a particular area functions within the whole, and this releases the composition from excessive formal control. There is no need to constantly adjust the overall balance. Instead, the painting undergoes successive metamorphoses, until a general equilibrium emerges—less as a consciously calculated result than as a spontaneous synthesis.