Bowie 67. Acrylic and ink on wood. 2014. 23.5 x 30.5.JPG

Briefly describe the work you do. 

I had focus my work in painting and in drawing, but especially in painting. I like to manipulate, to trace, to create images, and to use the visual language. I am interested in the technical exploration and in the communicative power of the image as a carrier of  contents and creator of interrogatives. Painting is the main core of my work where there are two recurrent subjects: space and rock and roll, but I am always open to other possibilities, techniques and themes.

Tell us about your background and how that has had an influence on your work and on you as an artist.

My father taught me how to draw when I was 3yrs, and my brother and I used to trace comics. When I was 18 living in Ibague, Colombia, I met Fox Barrios, a master from Tolima, who taught me the painting technique and a way of living as an artist. While studying fine arts in the University of Jorge Tadeo Lozano, the contemporary artist, Fernando Uhia, showed me the current possibilities of art and painting, and the media appropriation. The classical technique of Barrios and the contemporary input of Uhia have both influenced my work. The TV, the radio, rock and roll and the web have as well. 

The concept of the artist studio has a broad range of meanings in contemporary practice. Artists may spend much of their time in the actual studio, or they may spend very little time in it. Tell us about your individual studio practice and how it differs from or is the same as traditional notions of “being in the studio.”

Art nowadays, in my opinion, has many ways of being executed , and not all of them need to be done or process in an art studio. I believe every artist has its own point of view and way of work, but in my case I do need the space to experience the process.

Jetro Tull. Acrylic on wood. 2015. 23 x 19 cms

What roles do you find yourself playing that you may not have envisioned yourself in when you first started making art?

A publicist or a plastic surgeon, maybe. Something that would give me money to be able to paint. I´d have like to be an actor, or a rock star and spend my life traveling, but I think I made the right decision of being an artist.

When do you find is the best time to make art? Do you set aside a specific time everyday or do you have to work whenever time allows?

The day light and the silence of night are good for painting. Any time for me is good to make art. Riding a bus or walking for example. I have a little notebook that I carry with me where I write my ideas. To dedicate as much time as I can to think and do art would be ideally. 

How has your work changed in the past five years? How is it the same?

I have polished my technical processes, and I have found my own language. Every series I paint gives me something new and requires different things which takes me to what I want to do next.

How have people such as family, friends, writers, philosophers, other artists or even pop icons had an impact on the work you do?

The origin of my work is based on the images I see on TV, on its icons. I particularly like the 60´s aesthetics and what was happening with art and music during that era.

Have you ever been pulled in the direction of a pursuit other than being an artist? What are your other interests? 

I would like to study art restoration to eventually work doing that. I would also like to do jokes videos and web parodies.

About

Born in Bogotá in 1982, studied painting for two years in Ibague where I lived half of my life, then returned to Bogota to start the career first as a designer and change quickly to Arts and finished in 2007. A brief time as teacher in different schools and now live and work in Tabio as a full time painter.

santiagocastroborda.wix.com/santiagocastroborda

All images copyright of the artist and used with their permission.