[FOR JOSEPH]
PERSPECTIVES WITH
ARTIST DIEGO CABEZAS
This interview was part of a series for JOSEPH CURATES, an online magazine of sorts, dedicated to the creatives and creators who share a similar outlook to the British fashion brand - where I was employed as Content & Social Media Editor.
In the elegant twists and turns of hand-forged metal artist Diego Cabezas reveals the surrealist beauty of the natural world. Simplified portraits of human and botanical forms are traced in blackened iron. Based in Barcelona, Diego continues to reduce his works to only the most essential gestures. We caught up with the 41-year-old sculptor to find out how he’s evolved his craft, and just how exactly they take shape…
ON BEGINNINGS
I loved drawing as a kid. And building things with my hands from paper, plastic and wood. Nothing serious just enjoying it. It was only years later when I was 18 and didn’t know what to do with my life that I decided to go to the Pablo Picasso art school in A Coruña to study sculpture. There I realised the possibilities of it, and how much I needed to learn. I’m constantly learning and evolving. Creating sculpture is an endless game and I’m totally addicted.
ON PROCESSES
All the sculptures start with a lot of drawing. Without interruption I can fill an entire notebook in one day. I then choose what to sculpt from there. The process of turning a drawing into a sculpture is hard and unpredictable. That’s what excites me most. The endless unknowing game.
ON CRAFTSMANSHIP
When I was young I realised that most sculptures are very heavy. Not only through materials but on the eye too — I wanted to create something lighter. Iron has allowed my sculptures to feel almost like brushstrokes. I have experimented over many years to hone this process.
ON MATERIALS
I love all materials: concrete, wood, ceramic… But nothing comes close to iron.It feels like my personal material. It allows me to draw in the air, in three dimensions, with my hands. Nothing makes me happier.
ON ATMOSPHERE
The negative space within my work is as important as the positive, like silence between notes in music. It’s the balance between the line and the space that makes it special
ON GROWTH
I’m lucky enough to have made a profession out of my passion. My style has grown more delicate in aesthetic having spent thousands of hours evolving, and learning ways in which to work.
ON CREATIVITY
There is no solid formula. Each individual has to find his own way, but reading, travelling and going to museums and galleries helps a lot. Allowing yourself space to imagine, whatever that is, is key to creativity. For me it all starts when I feel like playing, and doodling, for good or bad. Just the act of doing.