Roger Sanguino

Roger Sanguino - "Unseen XXIV" (Hidden XXIV)

Technique: Oil and stainless steel on canvas and wood.

Artist Biography:

Roger Sanguino was born in Venezuela in 1968. In Caracas he began his training in the field of plastic arts, passing through the Art Institute "Federico Brandt", and the Workshop School "Arte & Fuego", between the years 1990-1996. From then on he began to participate in official regional and national competitions all over Venezuela.

In his early years, drawing and painting were the disciplines in which he embarked on his personal quest, exploring the theme of the biological diversity of animal species, which he also developed in the field of fused glass.

Around the year 2003 Roger Sanguino undertook a trip to Barcelona, Spain, where he completed formal studies at the Escola Massana in Barcelona: The Higher Level Training Cycle in Painting (2003-2006), and later The Higher Level Training Cycle in Sculpture (2011-2014). At the same time that he carries out his studies, he takes part in different artistic confrontations, such as competitions, biennials and art fairs in Spain and abroad.

His contact with Barcelona awakened his interest in subjects other than animal symbolism. The theme of the portrait appears in his painting, which he develops through an insistent elaboration of portraits from memory, with which he gives shape to compositions in the form of mosaics.

Subsequently, his portraits are stripped of the backgrounds from which they emerge. The portrayed person formally evidences a certain volumetric character. It was then that he felt the concern or need for these characters to jump into three dimensions. His sculpture studies provided him with the theoretical and technical information to begin to construct a sculptural discourse, work that he continues to develop today.

With the Body as an anchor, his most recent work is part of an investigation that revolves around the human being, in which he explores themes such as the mind, body language, the particular and the universal, the relationship with the other, time, the portrait; concepts that together with formal aspects such as the importance of drawing, which shapes the structure of his work, acting on the inside of the form and on the outside, through the intervention of piano wire, wires, rods and steel nets. It is a three-dimensional drawing that traverses the space, incorporating the void into the work, a light drawing that dialogues with the volume, traversing it, or enveloping it, establishing limits, spaces and generating structures like a grid.

 

"Unseen XVIII" is a drawing made in graphite, pastel chalk, acrylic and piano wire on canvas, glued on wood. Another piece that makes up this series in which I revisit the theme of the portrait. In this piece it does not matter the identity of the person who has served as a reference, on the image I execute the action of erasing or crossing out. Only a part of the face remains visible, no more information is needed, I leave room for speculation. A steel thread floats over the portrait, creating a sort of division that emphasizes the implicit symmetry of the face. A line that also intends to connect mind and heart. A metallic line that contrasts with the opaque surface of the image with which it coexists, and that in turn, reminds me of the importance of drawing in my work.