Jose Paulo: Interview

I recently returned from the San Juan Trienal de Poli/Graphica in San Juan Puerto Rico. While there I had the chance to meet with and interview several artists about the work they exhibited at the Trienal.

Perry: Where are you from?

Jose: Recife, Brazil.

Perry: What is the title of your work?

Jose: Chimera.

Perry: How is narrative space built into your work (i.e. story, history, character, past, present or future)?

Jose: I would say that every time I start with a new body of work I am first of all concerned with the content and then I start to think about the form the work will take. For the last three years the narrative I have been interested in is the intersection of ethics, and biological research.

As human beings we make our future based on our choices, but the choices we make are also influenced by our heritage. I am interested in all these ramifications and the implications of the choices we make and the heritage that shapes them.

My work deals with monsters of two kinds: ones that are imaginary and ones that are real. A Chimera is a female fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology, usually represented as a combination of a lion’s head, goat’s body, and serpent’s tail. In a contemporary context, a chimera is an organism that has genetic material from a variety of sources as a result of the insertion of unspecialized cells (stem cells) from other species into an embryo. The Greeks understood the power of human thought and in their literature and their imagination they were able to give form to their ideas. Today thousands of years later we are also creating monsters, but the difference is that instead of being imaginary, the monsters we create are real. The idea of the work is to bring the thing, of course it is difficult for a person that is only seeing the work, to make this relation, but what I want is maybe to plant a seed so a person goes away and looks for what a Chimera is.

I chose the text, which is a fragment of the Iliad of Homer (the 6th Canto). Therefore I took a text from Homer in which he describes the Chimera and I imprinted the letters into a ground of clay. Also, there is a symbolic idea in the choice of material. I use clay because it is the material that God used to create man. I could use other materials, but I think this also raises other questions.

Perry: How do you describe the use of non-objective space in your work (i.e. balance, visual weight, emphasis, composition, etc)?

Jose: I would say that I have a traditional art education. I know drawing, sculpture, value, shadows, proportion and all that stuff. It is a very thorough set of skills I have and I can’t ignore it. Nor would I want to. I am also an architect so I have that knowledge that I cannot deny either. So all these things rule my mind and I can almost feel their presence. I enjoy working with my hands. I like 3d stuff. If I want to dialog with actual visual skills, at the same I have this environment that is bringing me new information but that has to integrate with my acquired knowledge. I use computers, and software too. But when I began my training it was before the age of the computer so I acquired the old hand skills you had to know back then. I feel good about this because when I have to use a technique or another I know how to use it, like prints, lithograph, engraving and all the others skills. It is a very wide range of things I can choose to work with. At the same time I know that digital technology is another tool for me to work with, a great tool, but just one among many.

Perry: What was your approach to executing this piece?

Jose: I was invited to make a work in a room here at the Triennial so I had the size and dimension of the room. With this information I was able to decide on the size of type. Since I had worked with ceramics before, I used that to make the letterforms to print with. I had to choose a suitable font so I asked a friend who is a graphic designer to advise me. So he said to use Verdana because it is readable at a distance. I decided to do a very clean and straight layout, symmetrical and very simple…classical. I had the text and the material and that was it.
The first time I did this kind of work I made it inclined, but the question of the work is not to be read but to have an effect. You aren’t necessarily supposed to read it. The text on the wall is for that. What I am really concerned about is the impression.

Perry: What about the art world bothers you the most?

Jose: …Maybe not to be able to work or to produce. Not personally, but within society at large. In Brazil if you choose an artist’s lifestyle you know it will be difficult. I am sure there are a lot of people who want to work and who want to express themselves as artists but they don’t because they can’t afford it.‡