“They are good guys, it’s like watching the devil smile” – Interview with Max, alias Jugodepapaya, sneaky preview of his adorable fantasy word.
Where are you from?
I´m from the north of Chile, Atacama Desert. But I live in Santiago.
Could you tell us a bit about your background? Family, childhood, how you get interested art…
Well, my parents divorced when I was very little, but my mother made me have a very good childhood. Since I was a kid I have always been able to make friends, but as I grow older, I realize how we are. My friends were always very masculine and strong, but I was delicate and I liked the details of life. My family being so traditional I was demanded to be like my friends and they compared me many times. Thanks to that I started to spend time alone and develop other areas, such as arts, drawing, animation. Inspired by my mother who helped me and encouraged me, I began to make animated shorts at the age of 13, I studied the human figure In my adolescence, I drew in school workshops and developed my vision. At 16 I already had an idea implanted of how men should be, I was thin and pale (still) and could not fit in that concept, I looked at my colleagues in the lockers and I liked what I saw. It was there that I began to draw, I drew men, many men who were all that I was not, but they were contrasted by elements that did not have to do with themselves either. Like flowers, birds, clothes, hair styles, details that make a contrast in how one sees these men so great and powerful. They are strong, tough and scary but they are also sensitive and vulnerable. This is how things came out.
How do you descripe your figures? Some of them looks very agressive, and some looks like a big
guy-big heart type.
They all have their own personality, no one thinks like the other, none expresses like the other. Sure for some people they have a slightly disturbing and aggressive appearance, but they are good guys, it’s like watching the devil smile, it can look disturbing but if he’s happy it’s not his fault right? To really see them you need to put a side all stereotype and clishés and see them as men doing their stuff in their own world naturally. They can be dominant, kind, merciless, caring, loving, happy, etc … all shapes and sizes. They’re men. I find beauty in different expressions and postures of men, could be a smile, a look, arms, legs, it can create a new world of possibilities.
Your pictures are more fantasy or you drawing after a model or photo?
They´re fantasy, I think these kind of body shapes doesn´t exist in real world, but I get a lot of inspiration from magazines, men at the beach and old movies. When people ask me to draw them I use a photo for sure.
Some of your characters are named on your intagram, who is your favorite?
I cannot choose one, I love them all, but I have a special love for the giants.
How do you spend your time when you not making art?
When I´m not making art I go on my bike all the time, I have a group of close friends and they always take me to new adventures and places. I read a lot of novels, comics and knowledge mags. Sometimes my friends and I get together and play some music, I’m practicing the piano twice a week. I´m not a very good cooker but I like to eat. Spend some time in the garden with my mother, she taught me a lot about flowers and to how care of them. Occasionally when I´m by myself I walk trought the city and I observ a lot, it´s quite a privilege to be alone, you get to apreciate and feel things differently than with people. It´s nice.
Is there any big upcoming project in this year?
Some colaborations are coming, new plataforms, maybe a book this year or the next, and be happy of course.
Find more: @jugodepapaya