ROGELIO MANZO

I'm interested in beauty found in chaos, accident and the harmony found within. In my work I provoke the accident to later, during the creative process, embrace it looking for reconciliation and homeostasis. My approach as when creating is a construct-demolish-repair process; during this struggle I find a brute yet honest identity of my subjects... and expose the viewer to a visceral discourse concerned with our own corporal integrity and mortality... My approach, is to be as pragmatic as I can be, which has allowed me to discover and merge different materials and techniques. I spent my childhood and younger years in Mexico, when I had the opportunity I visited artisans in their shops, and traveled to Mexico's major art crafts producers states like Jalisco, Michoacan, Oaxaca, and the central Mexican valley, there I visited shops of recognized artisans, and was inspired by the richness of materials and variety of techniques, color and textures they fearlessly use, their passion to make their work look "hand made" has deeply influenced me on what an art piece should look like. The process is relatively complex and it has taken me quite some time to be able to understand the materials I use. The pieces are done over resin panels and canvas. On the panels pieces, I use panels that allow me to layer oil paint, image transfers and laser prints or a combination of all, on both the front and the back surfaces to create depth and provide a place for light to play. I work my way through the panels by altering its finish. All this play with back and front of the panel is to try to distort the image and play with the viewer's visual experience. I sometimes, especially in larger pieces, have to cut into little squares the print to be able to handle the transferring process by hand. The face and body are mainly done with oil paint, but sometimes would combine materials here too . I slowly build up a visual effect reminiscent of flesh and bones , through a wet-and-dry-layer-after-layer process, and mixing techniques tendencies of the classic masters like sfumato and chiaroscuro to create drama and a realistic effect. I sometimes would also paint some of the garments on front or back to create additional layers. I'm mostly interested in the expression of the piece with a touch of reality to keep my work grounded to it. The pixilated effect of the transfers are left evident and, sometimes, exaggerated, along with the realistic painterly to add voice to this statement.