DAYRON GONZALEZ
“Through the lenses of historical events, past and present, I wish to explore the human behaviour and how it is conditioned by it and create a new story through my own interpretation of those events & the consequences on our humanity.”
Motivated by the desire to explore human behaviour and how history conditions our present, Dayron Gonzalez re-contextualises images of the past and present by creating new stories.
He offers to the characters depicted in his paintings, a new visual environment with strong brushstrokes that create the illusion of the tearing of the image, alluding to the imprint left by time and experiences by applying multiple layers of intense and sometimes dark colours.
His style ranges from subtle to violent on his quest to create a new narrative thus demystifying the real story behind each of the images. Each image attempts to create a new awareness that can lead the observer to reflection with the intention of providing a different view.
Dayron’s works have been exhibited at art galleries in Miami and across the US as well as international art fairs such as Art Wynwood, Art Palm Beach, Art Miami New York, Accessible Art fair, Dallas Art Fair, Expo Chicago to name a few.
His works can be found in private collections internationally. He was born in Havana, Cuba in 1982 and graduated from San Alejandro National Art Academy in 2007.
He currently lives and works in Miami.
Curriculum Vitae.
Please find below small video footage about the artist.
SOLÈNE wants the viewer to explore and understand the world of each artist by entering their studio life, their daily exploration or even a show, a project that has marked them but more generally SOLÈNE’s vision is for the viewers to see what inspire them, their artistic process and what they wish to share and transmit.
Your work explores the human behaviour through past historical conditions on our present. Would you say coming from Cuba and having had to leave your country for Miami due to the difficult political situation there has shaped your envy to explore this intrinsic relation between human behaviour and historical conditions?
Definitely. It is something that its continuously present in my mind and it shows on my works.
Something that intrigues me is the fact that you start by creating a very skilled technique of “picture perfect” painting and then you carry on by multi layering the canvas to the point of creating the illusion of tearing the image apart. How do know when it is enough and when to stop? Is it instinctively? Do you sometimes go too far and have to start again from scratch?
Most of the time I don’t really know when it is done. I stop once I am somewhat satisfied with the way the image looks, sometimes it takes a long time, sometimes it is quick. It is more of a feeling than really anything else so I would say it is definitely instinctively. I have had to start from scratch many times when I don’t really feel good about the work. To me, it doesn’t matter the amount of time I have invested in the piece.
In your paintings, there is a strong feeling of violence or perhaps darkness from time to time. Would you say the subject is quite dark or is it just the reflection of the technique itself?
It is a little bit of both. It depends on the subject and the picture and the way I feel like approaching the work by my perception of the image and the subject. Sometimes, the image evokes different approaches and I follow them.
Talking about the technique itself, how did you come to use strong brush strokes to create the illusion of multi layering to narrate your desire to explore the subject explained above in your paintings?
The layers that I use in my paintings try to metaphorically recreate the experiences we go through in our lifetime, the many experiences we have lived through and the scars become like sediment in our lives.
What do you ultimately wish to transmit through your paintings to the viewer?
My work is more like an open window to all the ideas that I mentioned above, depending on each painting. Painting for me is like going through a needed process of creation where the resulting image not necessarily ends up the same way that was thought at the beginning.
Are you currently working on a new série and if so, are you able to tell us a bit more about it?
I am always working on something new but it isn’t necessarily part of a série. At the moment, I am not working on an specific serie, I am exploring with different formats.