Santiago Paulos: 2015 Scholar

  • How did the experience affect you as an individual? I went to Florence in September 2015. I had the opportunity...
    Santiago Paulos, Green tunnel, 2017, oil and acrylic on canvas, 65 × 58 cm

    How did the experience affect you as an individual?

    I went to Florence in September 2015. I had the opportunity of being there before, however, only for the weekend and nothing like staying in the city for a prolonged period. Being in the city of Florence for more than one month was a completely different experience. Walking back home during the warm nights between Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa in the Piazza della Signoria or bumping into the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella was breath-taking. A unique experience of an art installation of the size of a city. I was also lucky enough to stay with other scholars which created a bond that perdures until today.

     

    What was the impact on your practice?

    Apart from seeing on flesh several major Italian Renaissance artworks which I like to think must have a massive impact in any artist, the scholarship allowed me to understand my practice in a broader context. It gave me valuable time and magnificent examples to think about constructed spaces and the traditional linear perspective. Which at the moment resulted to be the pillars in my MFA degree show.
  • What would you say the long term impact has been on yourself and you work? Personally, it helped me a...
    Santiago Paulos, Hollow, 2016, screenprint, oil and acrylic on canvas, 55 x 55 cm. RSA Collection

    What would you say the long term impact has been on yourself and you work?
    Personally, it helped me a lot to understand art as a chain of knowledge. Where an artist (if we are successful) may be allowed to add a new link, and in this way, influence future practitioners.
    I am interested in this aspect of ‘Tradition’ and I find really interesting that any art language has a history that you carry along even if you don’t want to. In that sense, Florence was very important in two aspects: first of all, the very important artworks held there, secondly, the chance to see each of them next to the others (sometimes a few blocks away). The dialogue and connections between them were just incredible to me and full of meaning.

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