FITS Caps- Eduardo Cabrer

In his first capsule for “Creating from a distance”, Eduardo describes his strategies for overcoming the difficulties involved in being under quarantine, discusses working macro to micro, developing visual imagery through experience and connotations, and how he uses the visual manifestation of feelings and thoughts as a tool for self-healing. His studio is his refuge, his world, and within its solitude he reflects on his process and the collaboration between the artist and the spectator whose various interpretations contribute to the meaning of his work as it moves beyond his intentions. Discover Eduardo Cabrer’s exploration of the still life genre and topics such as candies, Puerto Rican identity and nostalgia in this video. The isolation period, according to Eduardo, is an opportunity to establish pictorial conversations as collaborations with other artists

The extension of the quarantine has presented Eduardo Cabrer with several challenges related to his artistic practice. In the end, confinement has forced the artist to accept new plastic adventures.

While working on the paintings of typically flavored bonbons, he realized he had become absorbed in representing their wrappers. He eventually exhausted his supply of canvases which forced him to halt production, and turn to the pop series focused on lollipops. Eduardo routinely photographs his subjects at different angles and distances to create source material for his paintings. While analyzing the images for this series, he realized the closest representations of the wrappers were the true subject of the series, rather than the set of photographs. The concentration on rendering wrappers while working on the tropical candies translated into a new focus which connects the wrapper conceptually to Eduardo’s reflections. The gestural paintings, a departure from his photorealistic style, record his feelings and thoughts1 about the individual’s involvement with and internalization of their context. His experiences have led him from perceiving the lollipop as a reward to understanding it as an instrument used to captivate and induce forgetfulness. Adjusting his use of the projected image for painting instead of drawing allows for unrestrained2 spontaneous mark making without losing sight of the model, which is integral to the conceptual makeup of the image. Energetically 3 manifesting his internal reaction candidly expresses the ineffable and affords Eduardo the opportunity for future reinterpretation. The third series of images, painted on raw linen with black gesso and acrylic, produced while under quarantine in his apartment arose from the realization that he had begun identifying with his houseplants. He creates studies of each plant which he combines with sketches of the layout before beginning the final work. Occasionally, accidents inspire textures he would like to explore. These new pieces would retain some of the loose brushwork developed in the lollipop series.

The artist usually employs acrylic paint because the quick drying time allows for fast work from beginning to end. In order to conform to the curfew instated by the government, Eduardo has modified his practice by electing to make use of oil paints. The slow drying time stretches the time he can work on each picture which would permit daily modifications. Eduardo has demonstrated tenacity, creativity in problem solving, openness, and an adaptability which have allowed him, despite the unanticipated situation, to work on various series simultaneously and to embrace a medium that had not formed part of his practice.

Bibliography

Albert, Greg. “The Art of Scribbling.” Artists Network. Accessed May 1, 2020.
https:// www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/the-art-of-scribbling/?cid=search.

Kordic, Stanka. “Is source material getting in the way of your creativity?” Artists Network. Accessed May 1, 2020.
https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-subjects/portrait-figure/is-source-material-getting-in-the-way-of-your-creativity/?cid=search.

1 Greg Albert, “The Art of Scribbling,” Artists Network, accessed May 1, 2020,
https:// www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/the-art-of-scribbling/?cid=search.

2 Greg Albert, “The Art of Scribbling,” Artists Network, accessed May 1, 2020,
https:// www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/the-art-of-scribbling/?cid=search.

3 Stanka Kordic, “Is source material getting in the way of your creativity?,” Artists Network, accessed May 1, 2020,
https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-subjects/portrait-figure/is-source- material-getting-in-the-way-of-your-creativity/?cid=search.

Throughout the Creating from a Distance: Artists in Quarantine project, Eduardo has demonstrated resilience in his willingness to accept and manoeuvre within the limits imposed by the quarantine. Despite his best intentions, Eduardo was unable to face the challenges associated with working with an unknown medium or produce other pieces that would satisfy him aesthetically and conceptually. This past week he has spent his time analyzing the Lollipops series.

As seen in the second capsule, for this set of paintings Eduardo has focused on painting detailed images of a crinkled twisted lollypop wrapper in a loose manner. He relaxed his brushwork, with the support of the projected image, which has allowed him to express his distress both visually and physically. Gestural brush strokes and dripping, which emphasize the essential physicality of painting, were first seen in the paintings produced by artists working from the 1940s to the 1960s.1 These techniques can be appreciated in work by Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning. The dripped paint and contorted paper suggest the candies are being squeezed, that compression somehow extracts their juice, just as the pressure of isolation and the hyperalert behaviour required to avoid contagion have stressed humanity. The composition and variation in palette gives each painting its individual character.

Action painting and the conceptual construction of these paintings embody externalized discomfort beyond what can be verbalized. Eduardo’s manifestation of his negatively charged feelings, which has provided some relief, reverberates in the audience as they reflect the tension each of us has felt during this crisis. The unexpected extension of the quarantine has inspired the artist to resume this series, because he believes that solidifying these emotions and thoughts in an honest way liberates them, allows him to detach and gives him the opportunity to reflect and reinterpret his experience.

Bibliography

Tate. “Action Painters.” Accessed May 8, 2020.
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/ action-painters.

1 “Action Painters,” Tate, accessed May 8, 2020,
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/ action-painters.