“I love when people are able to connect to their own emotions through my artwork”- Cartú
Artist CARTÚ draws his inspiration from his past experiences, deep contemplations, and ever changing emotional states that he aims to portray by using materials that are as ephemeral as his emotions.
INTERVIEW WITH CARTÚ
Artist CARTÚ is a multidisciplinary artist, dedicated to exploring sculpture, architecture, and design in various schools and workshops in Mexico, Paris, London, and Japan. In 2015, he graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and received the Abraham Zabludovzky Award for the best thesis in architectural composition. In 2019 Cartú completed his Masters in Fine Arts, graduating with honors from Parsons, The New School of Design, New York. Cartú was selected as a finalist for the MTV RE:DEFINE award presented by the Goss-Michael Foundation and nominated for the Dedalus Foundation MFA scholarship in painting and sculpture. He currently divides his time between Mexico and New York.
MARIA SANCHEZ: How did you start your creative journey in New York?
CARTU: In New York, I found a way to make my sculptures using a completely different production process. In comparison to what I have been doing in Mexico,- I had to essentially start from scratch. The great thing about that exploration was that I used materials that didn't make much sense at the time. Materials such as butter, plaster, ceramic, ice, frozen ink, etc. These unconventional materials led me into new ways of building sculptures. My creative process became an exploration of the material itself. Sculptures that fall apart, can remake themselves and become something completely different over time. This new way of making my art pieces was born from limitations and challenges I encountered in New York, but it also made my artwork stronger and more interesting. It also helped me conceptualize my art in such a way that the focus was no longer simply a finished beautiful sculpture. Through this evolution my pieces continue to develop infinitely, the process becomes endless.
For example, I have several frozen ink installations,- a series of hands holding frozen ink popsicles. When the audience enters the gallery they find the art pieces melting before their eyes, until it reveals what's inside,- the ink. That way the sculpture becomes something ephemeral that is changeable,- something that generates different reactions and meanings for every individual. I also made another sculpture where I replicated my head in half butter, half ceramic. At the gallery opening, I dragged it all over the walls and erased half of the representation of my face completely. I decided then to make a mold of the leftover butterhead and cast it out of porcelain. Once slip-casted and fired, its size reduced considerably since the porcelain reacted to the heat of the kiln and from there it evolved into a third head. That became another mold that I slip-casted, fired, and reduced even more. I continued repeating this process of reduction over and over until it became a very small head and as a result of this process, it turned into butter again. The final installation resulted in a self-portrait, a reflection on my journey of life, and its fading memories.
MS: What has most influenced your work?
C: Something that has influenced my work is being a nomad, I am always traveling a lot. I have also lived in different places, I have lived in Paris, Japan, Mexico, New York and I traveled extensively all over the world. Being confronted with so much cultural and creative diversity has opened my mind a lot, and it has always driven and inspired me to create so many new things. I have never stayed static in one place. This pandemic changed everything for me, but I am ready to discover new places and inspiration in the world’s most unexpected corners once again.
MS: What would you like to communicate through your work?
C: My work is completely autobiographical, I feel that in everything I do I am giving a part of myself. My work does not speak of anything external, what I communicate is fully internal. Through my art, I communicate something that I felt, or that I am feeling or I had lived through. What I like about it is that someone else is able to experience emotions, and they may or may not be the same. My work is very open-ended and very universal. My doors are open and accessible to the audience. I find that in contemporary art many artists close those doors, their artworks are very closed off or very limited. I think that what really characterizes a good work of art is when the piece can provoke some sort of emotion. If the artwork does not provoke anything,- it simply goes unnoticed, therefore it is boring. I look within and start from there, which is much more difficult. Anything external is easy, but looking inwards is hard and that's something I just discovered recently.
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
MS: What is your most significant piece?
C: Most certainly the piece I was telling you about earlier where I used butter to communicate the memory loss. I chose butter because it reminded me of the mornings when I would wake up at my grandmother's house when we would spend time together and she would make me pancakes with butter. My grandmother was no longer recognizing my face, she was no longer remembering me. The use of butter in my sculpture represented nostalgia. The face that is erasing itself and disappearing due to memory loss. That artwork comes from within and speaks of life, dementia, it's a very meaningful piece. People really connect to it, they find their own experiences in it, their own memories. This ever-changing sculpture awakens something special in my audience. Of course, my memories are present and I aim to trigger these kinds of emotions in the viewers too. It also inspires a lot of people to reach out to me and share their own stories. At some point in our lives, we all are going through these kinds of experiences. All of us will experience some kind of loss,- including death. This is my most significant artwork so far.
MS: How old were you when you first discovered yourself as an artist?
C: Since I was very little, I had a strong artistic inclination. By the time I turned 8 years old, I already knew that I wanted to be an architect. I knew that art was going to be the right path for me. UNAM at the time offered sculpture, photography, drawing, and design workshops. Those classes really expanded my creative horizons. I owe my entire career to UNAM. I really learned to see things from another perspective and I dedicated myself to exploring the intersection between the different creative disciplines.
MS: Where does your passion for sculpture come from?
C: It started in 2010 when I was living in Paris, it was the first time I experimented with ceramic. I was immediately fascinated by its interesting gestation process and the infinite range of enamels and finishes. To me the language of ceramic is universal, it has belonged to almost all cultures. I feel that its origin is alchemy. The combination of earth, wind, water, and fire were necessary elements for combustion and the fifth element is touch. Hands can form and deform at their convenience, or so it seems; I have always believed that is what directs creation. When I returned to Mexico, I spent endless hours learning and perfecting this technique, nowadays in New York, it is still part of my language as an artist.
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
MS: How do you describe your artwork?
C: My work has always been multidisciplinary, there are chapters in my life in which I do architecture, in others, I dedicate myself to sculpture. I also go through periods of drawing,- sometimes photography, design, and painting.
MS: What inspires you?
C: I fall in love with cities all the time,- a variety of cultures and everything in my life and that comes to surprise me, makes me fall in love very easily. I feel a strong attachment to Egyptian culture and classical European art, North African cities, Flemish painting, Brâncuși sculptures, Andalusian, Gothic and contemporary architecture, Japan and Paris, James Turrell, Bruce Nauman, and Isamu Noguchi. The books by Italo Calvino and Julio Cortázar are some of the references that have impacted my life and are obviously reflected in everything I do. I am also inspired by animal references, I believe they teach us an important lesson from other civilizations. Other living beings can sometimes make us see the good and the bad aspects of ourselves. The representation of animals has been present throughout history. The strength and meaning we give them is more significant than their aesthetic value,-I believe.
MS: What is your biggest challenge?
C: I face a challenge every morning, where I seek to generate ideas in front of a blank canvas,- from there I create something new. What I seek with my work is for my audience to connect with their own emotions, which is a challenge.
MS: Who do you admire?
C: I admire anyone who is capable of sharing what they know and can celebrate achievements of others. These are two characteristics that I admire in people and I am always surprised when I meet them. Life would be much easier if we shared what we know with those that are just beginning to learn.
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
CARTÚ
From the artist’s archives
