Multi Media Artist
What motivates you to create?
Before the motivation was purely expressive. Today I am motivated by a kind of personal socio-political commitment. I try to think of my works as testimonies, as sensitive historical documents.
When did you realize you were an artist?
At 19 years-old, when I discovered that there was an internal energy that I couldn’t control, that I could only transform through creative processes. Then I understood that there are many kinds of artists so I sought to problematize my thinking. Only when I managed to go beyond technique, I assumed it.
What was it that convinced you to join ARTDEX?
The first thing I saw was the possibility of another diffusion space. Then when I reviewed the call and the website in detail, I felt that there was an opportunity to participate without conditioning, without a curriculum, without confronting speeches, and that there was an appreciation of the work and of being an artist.
I would like to thank the interest in knowing and spreading each of our stories, in addition to the kindness and responsibility of the treatment they give us. I think ARTDEX is a valuable space for participation and the exchange of experiences.
Tell us about your artistic style?
I don’t believe in styles, or at least I’m not interested in thinking about them in this contemporaneity. I think that the research processes and the engagement of art today is much broader, and requires us to be able to adapt. I try to ensure that simultaneous processes occur in my work, that materialities and procedures intersect. I’m not interested in purisms although I can be very selective. But I think that if I had to define myself, at most I would say that I am a “recuperator”.
Tell us about your background? (did you study art, has it always been a hobby, or perhaps you took it up later in life).
I studied several careers related to the visual arts and design. I sought to specialize because I was interested in incorporating information, I felt hungry. Today I don’t believe so much in the academy because I feel that it has become excessively institutionalized, it has become bureaucratic. I believe more in practice and in the craft of creating. I have been exploring and thinking about art for more than 20 years, and I am sure that each experience can be valuable.
Does creating art help you heal?
Surely, though it shouldn’t be a perceptible act of healing. I don’t believe in catharsis processes through art. When I create I lose and win in equal measure, so I see it more as a way to find my own balance.
To learn more, please visit Juan Carlos Urrutia’s ARTDEX Profile.
