55 Burned

Empecé estos collages sin saber qué buscaba. Era un block de hojas que me había encontrado en la calle y que solo quería llenar con collages de revistas que ya tenía en casa. Sin comprar nada. Sin plan. Cortar, pegar, repetir.

Lo raro pasó después. Pensé quemarlos todos, así que en teoría nada importaba, y aun así me obsesioné con los detalles. Ojos, labios, colores, formas. Dos meses de precisión para algo que iba a terminar en cenizas.

Y ahí entendí algo. Si todo desaparece igual, mejor disfrutar el proceso. Sin miedo, sin presión, sin el famoso “¿está bien?”. Hacerlos y quererlos a todos por igual, sabiendo que el final ya estaba decidido.

Me recordó que últimamente era yo quien estaba complicando todo. Eso me enseñaron los 55 collages. El cliché de la vida: que lo importante no es el final, sino el viaje. Al final, esto solo va de empezar.

I started these collages without knowing what I was looking for. A sketchbook I found on the street, which I simply wanted to fill with collages made from magazines I already had at home. No buying anything. No plan. Cut, paste, repeat.

The strange part came later. I thought about burning them all, so in theory nothing mattered, and yet I became obsessed with the details. Eyes, lips, colors, shapes. Two months of precision for something that was meant to end in ashes.

That is when I understood something. If everything disappears anyway, it is better to enjoy the process. Without fear. Without pressure. Without the usual “is this right?”. To make them and care for them all equally, knowing the ending was already decided.

It reminded me that lately I had been the one making everything more complicated. That is what the 55 collages taught me. The life cliché: what matters is not the ending, but the journey. Because in the end, this is only about beginning.

See the process.

55 Burned.

Serie de 55 collages / Series of 55 collages

2007

Técnica y soporte / Medium: Impresión giclée con pigmentos de archivo a partir del collage original escaneado, sobre papel de algodón Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 308 g/m² / Giclée print with archival pigments from the scanned original collage, on Hahnemühle Photo Rag cotton paper, 308 g/m²

50 × 70 cm

Edición / Edition: 5 ejemplares por imagen, numerados 1/5 a 5/5, más 2 P.A., firmados / 5 prints per image, numbered 1/5 to 5/5, plus 2 A.P., signed

Obras / Works: Wide Eye Shut, Read My Lips, Embrace Yourself, Love Bus, Shoe-In, Assembly Required, Checked In, Night Light, Toxic, Best Foot Forward, Lemon Fresh, Off My Chest, Living Large, Second Hand, Handpicked, Scratch and Sniff, Inner Peace, Board Meeting, Freedom Rare, Skin Deep, Spain Pain, Hair Apparent, Sugar Coated, Eye in the Sky, Handle With Care, Corporate Sponge, Crossbreed, Par for the Course, Breakthrough, Game Over, Wall Crush, Crash Test, Family Portrait, Over the Wall, Face Value, Godhead, Off Duty, Sheer, Bubble Trouble, Rear View, Checkmate, Amen, Grab Bag, Cat Person, All Eyes, Field Trip, Holy War, Cut It Out, Midnight Snack, New in Town, Power Bath, Raw Deal.