Genius Loci: The architecture of emotional places
Traditionally used within architectural theory, Genius Loci is a Latin expression meaning “the spirit of places”.
Within that framework, the goal was capturing the essence of my travels, wanderlust being a recurring theme in my work.
Through the abstract interpretation of the places of my memories, I created an installation combining mural painting and relief works, as well as a collection of wooden sculptures.
The result is a celebration of the merging of my present as and artist with my past as an architect, and my passion for the built space.
Installation views: Cyclades, Al–Andalus and Laribal relief panels. Acrylics on board and painted mural, 333x133cm.
Installation views: sculpture collection.
The sculpture shapes are completely informed by the research phase of the project, resulting from an organic, snake–eats–its–tail process that began with small flat paintings, which inspired paper constructions, in turn inspiring both the wooden sculptures and their flat relief versions.
Pantheon sculpture views. Painted wood, 20x20x20cm.
In the wooden sculptures, there is a specific logic for each angle, joint and negative space, a direct result from the experimental paper constructions.
Paper constructions research that inspired the wooden sculptures.
There is a reason for each angle, joint and negative space.
Above: Oía, Granada, Pompéia, Imerovigli and Sampa sculptures.
Painted wood, 20 x 20 x 20cm.
Travel photos, personal archive.
Picturing Athens, the Greek Isles, Paris, the Loire Valley, Andalucían villages and Barcelona.
Traveling—or better yet, wanderlust—and my former training in architecture were the main sources of inspiration for the project and constant leitmotifs in my work.
For this first collection of 3D pieces, I was inspired by Brazilian and Catalan modernist architecture, traditional Spanish villages, neoclassical architecture and the Greek isles.
Setting up the installation on The White Wall at Espacio 88.