From my studio: Mercedes Rodríguez (MERCÈRO)

This week in the "From my studio" section we interview the artist Mercedes Rodríguez (MERCÈRO). With several exhibitions and prizes behind her, she tells us how she came to devote herself completely to painting, what art means to her and the influences she has had throughout her artistic career, along with other very interesting things you can't miss. Meet Mercedes Rodríguez from her studio.

1. When and why did you start painting?

For as long as I can remember I've felt drawn to artistic drawing. It was one of my favourite subjects, but I really started painting because of some personal changes in my life that pushed me to look for an escape valve, and I found it quickly in painting. I devoted myself to it exhaustively for more than ten years and that allowed me to develop my own language, as well as to discover inside myself a world of creativity I would never have imagined.

I trained in painting techniques and procedures, and painting came to wrap around me and absorb me so much that my main goal, not to say my only one, was to paint.

It was “my way of expressing myself”, “my way of transmitting”, of reaching people.

2. What time of day do you prefer for painting? How much time do you give to painting?

I don't think it's about preferences, but about desire and motivation. I've had days and stretches of painting practically day and night. Any hour can be a good one for it, but mainly when something or someone inspires you.

Time is a concept that fades away when you reach that moment of “inspiration”, as some would say, that moment when the artwork itself is telling you where to go, that moment when, at last, you think you can sense what you really want to express.

3. Of all the paintings you've done, which is your favourite? Why?

I think it's hard to say, since I have several. To draw a comparison, it's like asking a father “which child do you love most?”. Let's say I like some more than others, but there isn't one single favourite.

My abstracts in general and, to be specific, I could mention “Corazón destrozado”, “Paisaje nevado”, “New York”, “Tempestad”, “Sombrero” and “Abanico roto”, among others.

4. There have been great artists in the history of art. Who would you have liked to be?

I think we have to learn from the Masters of Painting. I like being myself, though I admire many of them.

I could name various impressionists such as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, who have had a great influence on me and marked my starting point in painting, but perhaps the light Joaquín Sorolla brings to his artworks and other current painters, like Antonio López and Manolo Valdés, stand out among my preferences.

5. What is or are your sources of inspiration?

I really couldn't say, because my sources of inspiration are very varied. A landscape can inspire me just as much as a sunset, any everyday object, the expression on a face, a pair of old hands, the wear of time on the tangled roots of a dying tree contrasting with the greenery and life around it, and endless other things. The only thing we have to know is how to “observe” the beauty of the simplest, most insignificant things, because even a broken, rusty lock has enormous beauty with those ochre tones and those textures... which I try to capture on my canvases.

6. Of all the artistic movements, which one has the most influence on your artwork?

My work began with a strong influence from impressionism, but in recent years it has been evolving towards abstract expressionism. I feel freer to use my own language, to bring out a whole inner world of sensations, feelings, passions, frustrations and longings.

I mainly like abstract art because it lets me be “myself”, I can use my hands to express myself, that's why I often paint directly with them and that's why my work has that force that draws in the viewer. I feel free to use all the spontaneity and sensitivity I have. In short, it lets me develop a whole world of creativity.

7. What does art mean to you? What part does it play in your life?

Art is any activity or artwork made either with an aesthetic purpose or as a form of expression and communication. Through it, I interact with the viewer, I let them share my vision of the world, my inner self.

So art is in my creating, and it's my hands that make it possible, that create and express... they're the ones that transmit all the force to my paintings. Brushes, palette knives and other tools simply help.

My work is my way of expressing myself, my way of communicating. My greatest longing and satisfaction is to reach the viewer.

See Mercedes Rodríguez's (MERCÈRO) artworks here