Work

The Little Grey Wolf Will Come was the original title —rejected by the Soviet censors— of the acclaimed animated film Tale of Tales (Yuri Norshteyn, 1979). As Norshteyn, I am interested in creating a visual emotional response to both, my changing personal memories, and part of my country’s history. The relationship among childhood memory, social memory, and history is the cornerstone of these works. Is childhood memory a trustable source? Up to what extent can we separate our own memories from the social imaginary from which they derive? Where are the boundaries… read more

I conceived In the Prison of Time as a flow of memories. Like reminiscences of an unreachable past, all fragments of this exhibition are intimately connected. They have no name, no beginning, and no end. Each object tells an unfinished story, and each tale connects with the other. A mysteriously shining glass of water on a poor table, an open suitcase on a crumbled chair, a rotary phone where you can spy a conversation, a soviet radio transmitting old melodies, and the abandoned wooden sword that some child left in a corner. They all talk about memory, loss, and nostalgia… read more

By mixing up historical documents donated by friends and recent works, I conceived this project as a revival of the Soviet era in Cuba. This is an exhibition imagined and played by a child from his own memories. The loss of his mother —a former Russian professor— is the leitmotiv of the journey. At the same time, she becomes a metaphor of the Cuban history. From the living room to the bedroom, each part of the house tells a different chapter of this tale. First, an innocent blackboard shows a large list of when I grow up…, all of them painfully unaccomplished. The snow… read more

These images are part of the illustrations for my unpublished novel Opening Your Eyes (2013). My novel draws on the memories of Javier Antonio, a young student in a boarding art school during the early 90s. Last summer, Javier’s best friend, a ballet student named Otto, left Cuba with his family. After many years of intimate friendship and mutual support, Javier is alone. Otto’s departure will trigger his rebellious and indomitable character. With the help of a journal, he will fight against the school abuses, humiliations, and bullying. Meanwhile, he will evoke… read more

The Offering articulates Christian spirituality with a great deal of esoteric tradition. From the orphism-pythagorism of classical western civilizations to the mystical Kabbalah, these symbols will become one recurrent image: a barren tree. Now, the visions of the cosmic man (Adam ha Kadmon) and the Tree of Life merge into the Pythagorean Tetraktys. Ultimately, they will embrace the transcendent notion of self-sacrifice. This exhibition is both, a summary of my previous work, and the beginning of a new quest. Its title and utter symbolism… read more

These images are the illustrations of my poetry book “Illuminations’ (In editorial process). The symbiotic relationship between literature and painting has been very important in my work and life. I started writing during the same years that I started painting. As a result, I cannot make a distinction between my literature and my artistic works; they are like wings of a same bird. As stated by Cuban poet and academic Roberto Manzano in his essay for my exhibition: “Poetry and painting are complements. They come together presided by the image, which is the primordial… read more

The Sixth Day explores spiritual conceptions arising from the Christian Trinity and the creation-redemption of the universe and humankind. More than orthodox religious art, these works are my artistic approach to a very personal mysticism. By rewriting and reinterpreting symbols from different spiritual traditions, I look for an enlightening coexistence between science, faith, and spirituality. The Genesis is conceived as a mathematical curve. Adam is neither a male nor a female, but an anthropos, a human being. The tryptic Bara (create)… read more

The name Erontika is a wordplay with two Greek terms: the neutral plural of ἐρωτικόϛ (erotic, amatory) and the present participle of εἰμί (to be). The approximate translation is “the Being of Love” or “the Love of the Being”. These works were first exhibited in Camaguey, Cuba, as part of the project The Universal Love, curated by Rafael Almanza. The Universal Love included The Divine Love, by Cuban artist Maydelina Perez Lezcano, and Erontika. The Divine Love, based on Rafael Almanza’s sonnets, drew on the… read more