Art and Science: Santiago Betancur
Despite already envisioning myself as more of a "liberal arts" student, when we studied vision in the 6th grade, I was fascinated. It was one of the few times I came home wanting to explain something I learned to my mother. I remember her patiently listening to my 11-year-old scientific explanation.
When I hit junior high, I was faced with some not-so-great science teachers. My 7th grade teacher made us stare into microscopes during class and draw what we saw. I liked the drawing part but didn't learn much about what I was drawing. My 8th grade teacher had such distracting facial tics that I couldn't pay attention to what she was saying (not her fault, of course). I don't even remember 9th grade science teacher. Then finally, for 10th grade, there was a teacher all the kids loved; I was looking forward to her class.
Come that September, her husband had a heart attack; she took a sabbatical. In her place, we had a substitute who knew nothing about science. By the time I was eligible to take chemistry and physics, I had ruled out science as an interest. Instead, I took courses in creative writing, library science, and got a credit serving as student aid for one of the English teachers. By my senior year, I was so bored that I graduated early. I couldn't take it anymore!
Through a twist of fate, I stumbled upon my 6th grade fascination with science again in college. Four years later, I graduated with a degree in Biology. Sometimes, I'm still surprised that I have a science degree. But then I remind myself why.
A lot of folks view science and creativity as mutually exclusive. I saw them as one and the same. Sitting in my college biology classes, I found a new kind of creativity--that which can be found in nature. My degree program was focused on human biology so I took courses such as genetics, molecular biology and genetics, physiology, cell biology, histology, and medical microbiology. The intricate, fascinating machinations of human biology stimulated me both intellectually and creatively. The creativity in nature never ceased to amaze me.
My guest today, artist Santiago Betancur, focuses his work on the fascinating interweave between science and creativity. He deeply appreciates art in nature, and seeks to express it on multiple levels within his work. His fascinating art seeks to lesson the divide between the worlds of science and art, and has been praised on both planes. Given that I share his belief that it is within nature that we find the highest levels of creativity, his work both captivates and inspires me.
"Using a mixture of acrylic paint and pure water, Betancur worked on life-size figure paintings that can only be described as a synthesis between Da Vinci's anatomical sketches, Goya's Black Paintings, and of course, the undefined substance of Betancur himself." Anna Visnitskaya, Krasa Fine Art
Can you describe what makes you feel successful as an artist?
My life has shown me an unavoidable way to express what I feel through art, especially in the hardest moments and during crisis. I have felt the most amazing success when I see the reaction of the public interacting with my paintings. This is because I perceive that the people can't avoid feeling a deep psychological impact, which shows effective communication that is sometimes almost vertiginous.
I see that I’m going deeper and deeper in to the human experience, never stopping.
My goal is to generate new concepts for how humanity views itself in many fields. It may sound pretentious, but my process has shown me how complex, mysterious and fascinating we are, and I aim to explore that. Doing so provides me with a special and beautiful feeling of humility each time I capture in my art the miracle of life and all that it implies.
During the last two years I've been showing my paintings in Miami. The last eight months this has been in my own gallery in the Wynwood Arts District. The gallery is a collaboration with a few other artists. Our goal is to partner on focusing on new and better levels of technique and expression, and obviously, additional exposure for our work.
With regard to your current creative focus, was there an "ah-ha" moment you can tell us about?
My painting ah-ha is happening now. It’s based on my close relationship with the science world.
In the last few weeks, my paintings have been praised by doctors and scientist who recognize, feel, and see (in my anatomy work) concepts and knowledge concerning their fields of study. Two different points of view (art and science) are converging. This means a lot to me because bringing these aspects together is one of my primary goals.
Maybe we are created to express. Perhaps our ability to create is to echo or provide a resonance of our connection with the different aspects of nature; a tribute to life, to its beauty, or to God. Sometimes these tributes of expression are made possible with a sense of sacrifice common to the "tormented artists." The paradox is that this blessing comes from suffering, which enables us to understand a certain level of beauty.
Many artist focus on one particular subject or style. How important is this for career development? Have you ever grown tired of painting the same types of things, and if so, can you tell us about it?
Actually, I try to focus on the same things; my obsessions are permanent. But I'm always trying to use different techniques because art asks for experimentation. If you follow that call, the results are usually enriched. You won't be let down.
Life is filled with aberrations. Do you attempt to capture those in your work as you focus on the beauty of humanity?
Rather than the aberrations, the feeling I try to capture in my art is the greatness of the human being and the miracle of life. I do this even when the darker face of my work is present. It enhances the sense of mystery and the disturbing power of art. This may enable the spectator to reflect on his aberrations while also recognizing the beauty in life.
During difficult or challenging times in your life, does writing sooth or inspire you? Is it therapeutic in any way?
I set a dialogue between doctor and patient within me. I'm both simultaneously, as a painter and a subject. That is like going to the space in my mind where I can find both my diseases and then my cures. Have you ever had to deal with people in your life failing to understand your creative personality, interests, or drive?
Each moment of your life can give you the creative satisfaction of finding the subtlest things that show you that you are headed the right way.
Identifying methods is fundamentally what we need to do. As I paint, I know that I need to keep a special image related to specific feelings that want to get out in my imagination, prefigured, then I exploit. Vibrate till burst, like the cicadas.
It is not relevant considering that a true artist competes only with himself.
With regard to gifts, increasing them is the responsibility for each talented person. In my case, you could say that I'm doing that through my connection with the world of science and the knowledge that explains to us the functions of the universal shapes. I find here my natural field, because I'm always appreciating the beauty plus the intelligence with the same emotion.
What is your primary motto or mantra in life? Why is this important to you?
Now I'm trying to be aware that we are only neurons achieving the best information that we can get from the Universe. We are his feedback; this concept led to the title of my series of self portraits, which is "Worshiper."
Now I'm trying to be aware that we are only neurons achieving the best information that we can get from the Universe. We are his feedback; this concept led to the title of my series of self portraits, which is "Worshiper."
Coaster Rider: Dario Posada
During the last week, I completed the draft of my latest novel, DUST. I also finished a new painting. Amazing authors Marya Hornbacher and Darin Strauss recommended me for a Guggenheim in fiction. My agent gave me some encouraging news, and I had lunch with a VP/Associate Publisher of an A-list publishing company. On the same day, I got a call about a Senior Director position in the pharmaceutical industry.
It sounds thrilling, doesn't it?
I'm on the ascending arch of a gigantic coaster. The anticipation is electrifying. I'm wondering if I should prepare to hold both arms up in the air and scream my guts out. I try not to focus on the inevitable drop ahead. It always comes in some form or fashion. Down, down, down, I go, and it's terrifying. I've learned over time that the drop is easier to take if I scream bloody murder, if I let myself experience the absolute, pure emotion of it, the life. Doing so enables me to recover more quickly, and dig up the strength to embark upon the next ascent.
That crazy ride keeps me focused in an odd way. It's delicately controlled. It's an outlet. I'm in a seat with safety devices surrounding me. There's a system, a balance, and a design. Before I mustered the bravery to get on that ride nearly twenty years ago, I was all over the place, spinning in a crazy, unsafe, circuitous world of emotion, ideas, and frustration. I didn't know what to do with myself; I was getting nowhere.
My guest today, artist Dario Posada, says that painting keeps him sane. No matter what happens in his life, he must paint. It's his big, beautiful coaster.
This week, as I drove toward the Trenton train station, heading to Manhattan to meet with my friend, the Associate Publisher, I asked myself, "What do I really want?"
I'm a writer; I will always be alone in that role. And I also want to be alone. I need to be alone, submerged in my own internal world, with my words and the clicking sound of the keyboard. I need to reach for my coffee cup while feeling the ecstasy of a perfect sentence.
Below Dario talks about how he realized that painting is about more than just brush strokes and color. This week, I remembered that being a novelist is about more than a computer and words. It's about expressing the experience of life and its exquisite complexity. The personal coaster I ride somehow illuminates humanity for me. It cracks open and teases apart layers and layers of preconceived notions and self-limiting ideas. It gives me something to chew on, and quenches my never-ending thirst.
Who knows what will happen next? But no matter what, I will keep writing. It keeps me sane. In the end, it's the big, beautiful coaster I ride. It doesn't need to look like yours.
My first mural was done at the age 12. I painted Che Guevara. I didn't even know who he was, but I liked his image. I was born in a poor country that was engaged in war (Colombia). I studied fine arts and environmental engineering. It took four years to convince myself that I should only be painting.
This journey has been like a roller coaster: Colombia, Germany, Spain, Italy, USA, Kenya. I've been in each of those countries, both legally and illegally. My paintings have always taken me further than I expected. She's (the art/talent) stronger than me.
With regard to your current creative focus, was there an "ah-ha" moment you can tell us about?
In 1998, as I was leaving my house to take a painting to an exhibition that I had that same evening, one of my paintings fell out of the truck that was transporting it to the gallery. The canvas split in half. I didn't know what I was going to do. The show was just minutes away. So I decided to sew it and put oil on top to cover the holes that could be seen from the sewing. That's when I understood that the painting was more than just brush strokes and colors.
I believe art is an expression that has its on language.
How would you describe the life of a true artist?
A true artist is always sensitive and sincere to himself and everyone else.
Do you believe some of the various attributes related to being highly creative have caused you aberrations in life, helped you deal with life's aberrations, or both?
By nature I'm a very aggressive person, Painting helps me channel my strength onto the canvas.
During difficult or challenging times in your life, does painting sooth or inspire you? Is it therapeutic in any way?
Going through tough times has never changed what I am painting--just the way that I paint. Something is happening, coming out onto the canvas.
I think people understand when they see the success. The best test that you can give them and yourself is by exhibiting your painting at an art gallery. People will see it differently than the way the see it at your studio.
Have you developed a specific creative process that enables you to meet your artistic goals? Where do most of your ideas come from?
No, I don't have a process. I don't know which painting will be the next one created or sold. My ideas come from everywhere.
What do you believe places an artist apart from his or her peers? An artist needs to be alone with his painting in order to create it. So many are highly talented, but what makes one stand out as truly gifted?
Discipline--meaning constantly working.
What is your primary motto or mantra in life? Why is this important to you?
Paint no matter what happens. It's what keeps me sane.
Dario's work is currently being shown at the Area 23 Gallery in Miami.
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