Hello Dear Toto Lara. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

Hello and thank you for inviting me. The truth is that the pandemic has not affected my art in a significant way, I mean in terms of the general topic that characterizes my work. In contrast, I have always been waiting and imagining a dystopic reality as well as landscapes. This can be confirmed through my artwork because my paintings can talk by themselves, and they can narrate stories of a real world rather than a simple artistic illusion or an imaginary world. I personally dedicate my time in trying to take my work out of the canvas in order to enhance my artistic language towards the art of tattooing.

I believe that the only way Covid-19 has impacted my work is by giving me more time to learn a new technique so I can capture my work on flesh.



What is your creative process like? How has your style changed over the years?

My work methodology comes mainly from my own dreams, nightmares, phobias, and fantasies. These images are visualized on paper as sketches, which are the base to structure the form, color, and composition of the painting. From being an architect for over 10 years, I have learned how to analyze deeply the context of my work, and from that point started my creative process.
All my thoughts took finally form on the canvas, where I developed my surrealistic vision of the present where we live. In general, my process includes drawings, photographs, 3D models and painting complemented by the study of artists of my interest and the current news.
 
Regarding the evolution and the progress of my style, I can tell you that the topic and the thing that I am trying to transmit to my audience has always been the same, but the expression and the language have been changed a lot during my career.  I believe that this is a result of a gradual process of constant search of my own way of expression. The study of various techniques, artists, and the concern of how to go further and not just paint, are fundamental. During the years, one gains more knowledge, gets to know theories and is experimenting new techniques. By my personal experience, I can tell you that Architecture and the academic studies of Art, have been a strong pillar that allowed me to paint in the exact way that I have always imagined.
 

We want to talk about the Surreal - Fantasy theme you choose for your main subject for your art. Can you tell us more about your theme and what is your artwork exploring, underneath everything?
 
The central theme is the body in the process of transformation, an actual topic that is part of humanity today, where we can see nature, human beings, machines, technology and artificial intelligence merged to generate a single being. The transformation of the body and its fusion with the abnormal shape is the main topic of my proposal, manifested by a personal perspective.
Our body is one and another, it changes, according to the different places or situations in which it acts, is a mental conflict in the different dimensions we live in. My motivation is presented as a personal effort to analyze human evolution.
In a period dominated by the acceleration of change and the omnipotence of the spectacle through the mass media, the individual is alienated and dissociated. The "I" stops being a stable identity in order to coincide with the body, it is transformed into something changing and diverse.
My proposal seeks to present the metamorphosis of the body as a metaphor for the relationship of the individual with his own self, and with his body, since all the experiences we may have been limited and are thanks to the body. It is the space where all experiences are lived.
I do not want people to see the obvious, to see just a painting, I want them to be able to see through it and discover a reality that does not exist in this dimension.
 

How does art-making impact other parts of your life?
 
Art changed my life, I got to know myself and who I am, I have learned that it is my natural way of communicating with society, here I found tranquility and an emotional stability that I never had before.
 
The Art give me the opportunity to exercise critical thinking, experience a renewed self-awareness, and potentially even a deeper connection to others and their experiences, as we share what we feel and try to interpret what we see.

 
What’s been your greatest artistic success and why?
 
Making a living from Art and doing the thing that I love the most in life. Enjoying every second of my life is something priceless.  

 
How do current trends in the artistic community influence your work?
 
Currently, the tendencies of the world of Art that I am following are mostly inspired by Dark Art. But my studies of color use have strongly influenced my expression. Nowadays my paintings are full of vivid colors, but my message remains dark. In this way I am targeting any kind of audience.

totolara.com
 
instagram.com/totolara