(1) Alchemist, 2020
lápis de cor sobre papel,
29.7 x 21 cm
Joana: I see in your painting "Alchemist" the subject of faith, the representation of some religious figure and act, even though I cannot be certain if this reading is correct. Nonetheless, I could not avoid connecting the subject of confidentiality with this image/idea of faith considering your work. I haven't gone further on this analysis on your piece, because actually this project started off by just absorbing the artists images at first glance, connecting somewhat superficialy with them and so gather elements to develop a conversation not really on the artwork but on the artist's ideas.
Besides this interpretation, I believe faith is a word that immediately connects with confidentiality, for the both go culturally and historically along. But so there can be many other links, like with love, or intimacy, or exposure, or shame - I believe this all depends on what should we feel ou think by confronting ourselves with the questions raised by this subject. What I felt after reading this poem and thinking of confidentiality, immediately drove me to wonder about how confidance and confidant can be found in art production, in the artists processes and practices - to which you may relate or not at all.
Lucaround: I like that you can see a religious connotation through the eyes of the ‘’Alchemist’’, which actually was an image I constructed in my mind while travelling to Marrocco.
There is a sense of faith, or trust, union, creation.
What was keen to me on this drawing was to express the dedication to a process, in this case maybe a more chemicalspiritual process, using your own chosen tools, and when embracing the work, magic, magnetism happens.
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Joana: Thinking of your own artistic practice and picturing the work of art as what raises from confidentiality, would you say that this same work of art reveals the confidential subject to the spectator? Or is it what actually keeps this subject confidential?
Lucaround: Artists are known to be expansive but also secretive. Leonardo da Vinci for example had reputation of keeping his processes secrets, occulting them from the public and other artists, he even invented a unique code to fill his research books with.
Keeping a recipe secret is fine, as long as the dish is served and appreciated. Some artist also tend to invite their viewers into the confidence of their creation. It is possible to lay messages under an artpiece, now would the viewer be able to see them, according to his own perception?
In my work I like to keep a part of mystery, something that is not obvious at first glance, and allows the mind to wander. It even happens that some of my drawings or paintings remain as mysteries for me, and that’s compelling to me.
Joana: In your practice and in your work, is there space and time for distinguished and contradictory feelings to commune? Feelings such as vulnerability and fearlessness, or confidence and uncertainty?
Lucaround: In each piece of art as well as in each creation there is duality. We live in a world of opposition and conjunction, ups and downs, light matter, heavy matter. In order to bring harmony to a creation, there must be a balance between the different objects involved - composition, color, light, etc.
In my practise I strive to respect and represent this duality. When designing a human face I am keen on bringing light in the shadow and shadow in the light. When the sun embraces the night and the moon surrenders to the day, then possibilities of interpretation and reception are infinite. Dimensions are brought closer to us, viewers and creators.
Joana: Would you say that the condition of transiting, constant mobility, journey, is fundamental in creation?
Lucaround: Transition, mobility, journey are key words for creation. I could add exploration, alignement, shifting. Physically speaking, in a matter of space and time, travelling definitely broadens the eye of the viewer as he gets to see and experience other cultures. A traveller collects many inspiration along his path.
The 5 senses are great receivers and keepers of such experiences. For instance, the air you breathe in a specific part of the world, or in a particular area of a city, can activate later memories of this same experience when you breathing the same air again. Your senses amplify the receptivity of visions.
Also the creator travels alongside his creation, through the process itself, layering and manifesting the matter, in search of a vision. To improve his art, one must improve his own perception of the worlds and their dimensions.