Artist Statement
My work revolves around two human concepts: nostalgia and anticipation. Nostalgia is created by our senses, and how we turn external events and experiences into familiar ones. Through art making, I develop a profound understanding of my existential being and personal experience. I think about memories of where I came from. I explore forms and colors that remind me of something that is not here anymore, because it is gone or transformed. I listen to sounds that change from one place to another, sometimes becoming just noise. The underlying sentiment that one automatically assigns to personal experience, or nostalgia, illuminates my art.
The second concept I explore in my art is anticipation. If nostalgia is the emotion, then anticipation is the mechanical clockwork behind my art making process. The exploration of anticipation is the force that allows me to explore reality as it is. It is the now and the future. Anticipation translates, in the art process, as editing, decision-making and selection of materials.
When paint touches canvas, the moment when nostalgia and anticipation collide, is when creation starts. I am fascinated by this moment, and process, and eagerly await the outcome of the meeting of these forces. I make paintings, drawings and installations with both a conceptual approach, and a deep emotional connection, in order to express and translate my own experience, and to, in the process, grab the attention of the viewer.
Jorge Valenzuela.
My work revolves around two human concepts: nostalgia and anticipation. Nostalgia is created by our senses, and how we turn external events and experiences into familiar ones. Through art making, I develop a profound understanding of my existential being and personal experience. I think about memories of where I came from. I explore forms and colors that remind me of something that is not here anymore, because it is gone or transformed. I listen to sounds that change from one place to another, sometimes becoming just noise. The underlying sentiment that one automatically assigns to personal experience, or nostalgia, illuminates my art.
The second concept I explore in my art is anticipation. If nostalgia is the emotion, then anticipation is the mechanical clockwork behind my art making process. The exploration of anticipation is the force that allows me to explore reality as it is. It is the now and the future. Anticipation translates, in the art process, as editing, decision-making and selection of materials.
When paint touches canvas, the moment when nostalgia and anticipation collide, is when creation starts. I am fascinated by this moment, and process, and eagerly await the outcome of the meeting of these forces. I make paintings, drawings and installations with both a conceptual approach, and a deep emotional connection, in order to express and translate my own experience, and to, in the process, grab the attention of the viewer.
Jorge Valenzuela.