Painter, psychologist, with more than 10 years of experience in the maltreated childhood area. Sistemic Familiar Therapist. Non-stopping. Tireless. Creative. Interview with Jean C. Puerto.
Could we start with some background information about you? Where are you based, a few things about your childhood, and/or about how you got interested in art.
Well, I’m based in Murcia, Spain. Actually I’m Spanish, but I was born in Venezuela. I lived there during my early childhood. Since I was very young I liked painting, drawing and artistic things, but it was not until I was 31 years old when I reconnected with painting. I started to go to painting lessons to spend more time with my partner who, in that moment, was going to a private academy of fine art. This is when I realised that for me, it was easy to do everything the teacher showed me. From that moment I got even more and more interested.
If we compare your paintings from 2010 to the ones that you have done in 2017 what differences will we see? Can you tell us a bit about your process from 2010 to 2017?
In 2010 I was starting to learn painting skills and never had even touched a brush, so my first paintings were like exercises, not very intimate, they had nothing to do with my work nowadays. Since 2014, I started my path to find my own world in the Art and was not that easy. In the first moments I wanted to please the viewer but I begin to listen myself and painting things were not for the viewer to like but to express myself.
How did your obsession with water/subjects in water?
I love swimming naked in the sea/beach, it is a sensation I never get tired of. I started experimenting with underwater scenes when I saw an Instagram of a man playing naked underwater… Was so inspiring. I bought an underwater camera and begin to play with it. I love the reflections, the absence of gravity and the similarity of being inside of the amniotic liquid.
Bath or shower?
Both? Haha, I love having a good bath but a shower can also be very restorative. I like water any way.
Your paintings are also often about daily moments in life, how is your ordinary day, what do you do?
Since I am a professional painter my days are very different. You may think that I paint all day (I wish I could), but I have to do all other things related with painting (social media, buying stuff, preparing sendings) and other things that are not a part of work (take my dogs for a walk, do some cooking, going to gym, doing some therapy). Anyway, my life is very common hehe.
In today’s digital culture how important is social media to you and your career?
In these days being on social media is important, but for me it is very important. Social media, especially Instagram, makes my work accessible to lot of people that wouldn’t see it in other ways. In these two years as a professional I can say that I have sold paintings from Spain to Asia and that is impressive.
Are there any living artists you admire?
Well, the main reference for me, as a painter and as a person is someone who helped me to find my own way in painting, Antonio López García. He does a very pure realism and he is one of my references.
Aside from painting, what are your hobbies/passions?
Saying that psychology is my other passion for me would be very obvious. I have been working as a psychologist for 10 years and I keep connected to therapy. But I have to say that, nowadays I spend more time painting. Also I love travelling, music, dancing and sailing.
Do you have any big/new projects for 2018? If yes, what?
During this coming Easter I will collaborate in a museum in my city (Ramón Gaya Museum). It will be an activity that consists of choosing a painting from Gaya T and doing some dialogue with it. The objective is to create a new painting to talk with the original.
Later in the year I’m preparing a new exhibition at the Leucade Gallery. After that, why not trying something in a bigger city like Madrid, Paris or Berlin?
Find Jean: @jeanpuertoart / www.jeancarlospuerto.com