Issue 9 Cover Art and Interview with Artist Juan Páez
“Sámara de fresno" ©Juan Páez
What thoughts or feelings are you trying to evoke in the viewer with the single fallen leaf?
The “sámara” is the fruit of certain trees, and in this case it is the tree of Fresno, a town in Honda, Colombia. The seed is hidden in the fruit of the sámara, so when it falls to the floor from a height, it makes several turns before falling. My intention, therefore, is that the viewer would question how nature defines or decides how to extend its own life, and in this case how the leaf chooses to fly before being born. A feeling of nostalgia is also communicated through this image, as my paternal grandfather was a doctor in this town, a town deeply affected by the civil conflict in Colombia and had to abandon his practice due to the instability of the región. I, however, have fond memories of the town and its trees, plants and fruits.
What is the best advice you have ever been given as an artist?
The best advice I have received as an artist is something a drawing teacher once told me: the lines should carry the trembling of life. Later, in different readings and searches, I found the advice more explicitly in semiotic theories about embodiment, that every action comes from an experience lived by the body.
If you could ask an artist to paint you (either present or past), who would it be and why?
I think I would ask Albrecht Durer, who is a simple but very detailed observer, and who leaves aside his subjectivity to concéntrate on the object. He was an excellent and perhaps the first scientific illustrator. I would like to see myself under his gaze and lines.
*Juan Páez was born in Palmira, Colombia, in 1973 and focuses on scientific and children´s illustration . With an M.A. in semiotics from the Tadeo University, Bogotá, he teaches drawing and visual appreciation at the district university in Bogotá, where he lives and bases much of his work. His work is faithful to the traditional notion of graphic drawing, but with a flexible style that is often inspired by the natural world and organic forms. Contact information: [email protected]
The “sámara” is the fruit of certain trees, and in this case it is the tree of Fresno, a town in Honda, Colombia. The seed is hidden in the fruit of the sámara, so when it falls to the floor from a height, it makes several turns before falling. My intention, therefore, is that the viewer would question how nature defines or decides how to extend its own life, and in this case how the leaf chooses to fly before being born. A feeling of nostalgia is also communicated through this image, as my paternal grandfather was a doctor in this town, a town deeply affected by the civil conflict in Colombia and had to abandon his practice due to the instability of the región. I, however, have fond memories of the town and its trees, plants and fruits.
What is the best advice you have ever been given as an artist?
The best advice I have received as an artist is something a drawing teacher once told me: the lines should carry the trembling of life. Later, in different readings and searches, I found the advice more explicitly in semiotic theories about embodiment, that every action comes from an experience lived by the body.
If you could ask an artist to paint you (either present or past), who would it be and why?
I think I would ask Albrecht Durer, who is a simple but very detailed observer, and who leaves aside his subjectivity to concéntrate on the object. He was an excellent and perhaps the first scientific illustrator. I would like to see myself under his gaze and lines.
*Juan Páez was born in Palmira, Colombia, in 1973 and focuses on scientific and children´s illustration . With an M.A. in semiotics from the Tadeo University, Bogotá, he teaches drawing and visual appreciation at the district university in Bogotá, where he lives and bases much of his work. His work is faithful to the traditional notion of graphic drawing, but with a flexible style that is often inspired by the natural world and organic forms. Contact information: [email protected]