I started this project as just a sketch with Roxana Hall’s self-portrait lessons. “I want to escape” makes sense as a response to this period of confinement, uncertainty and hopefully change.
Some time ago “Escaping Criticism” by Pere Borrell caught my eye. This painting is a trompe-l’oeil, which is a technique used by many since ancient Greek times from old masters to contemporary artists like Theodor
Pistek, to create an optical illusion.
What was the cause of this response? What made Pere Borrell want to escape? Was it criticism? Escaping Criticism was exhibited in Barcelona in 1874. That year marked the end of the First Spanish Republic and
the Restoration of the monarchy under Alfonso XII.
1874 was a year of disruption, persecution, changes, uncertainty and despair. More than one century later, 2020 sounds similar. This pandemic has touched me profoundly, it is not only here in London, it is in
Peru and in Spain where my beloved family lives and in the world where my friends are.
Art is creation and creation is life, we are here to give colour to these days, to challenge ourselves to create more and better work, regardless of the limitations or maybe thanks to these.