Rockstar
Caves are places where we are granted the privilege of contemplating the earth’s intimacy. Accidents that reveal a secret seemingly not meant to be disclosed to humans. When venturing inside, one feels like a probe within another world, another body; a landscape so terrestrial that, paradoxically, it seems extraterrestrial. They are often ideal settings to rethink the concept of beauty: from the grotesque darkness emerge whimsical and extravagant forms that, nevertheless, bring us closer to the sublime.
Altamira overwhelms for all of this and much more. Above all, for the awareness of being at the origin of something, at a point of departure par excellence. From an artistic perspective, one could say that being there means encountering the very first artist. Altamira is not just a place; it is a universal icon. Its influence endures over time, not only as a historical treasure but also as a paradigm of creativity and inspiration that continues to resonate in contemporary culture. Altamira is a celebrity, a diva, a rockstar.
There is something in my approach that seeks to convey this mythical and legendary aspect of Altamira as a living icon, generating new forms and relationships through its surface, volumes, and long-lived, tattooed skin, with all its mysteries and codes yet to be deciphered. With a poetic stance, even while using the analytical tools of a forensic observer—this time the electric light of civilization rather than the warm flicker of fire—we document the body and speculate on its forms and enigmas to later construct a new scenario. Perhaps there is also a touch of Dr. Frankenstein in this desire to create and give life to a new creature, embracing and celebrating that anomalous and monstrous beauty through a kind of collage, in this case photographic, whose layers are nothing less than a continuation of an ancient palimpsest.