Graciela Cassel :: Childhood Memories

Childhood Memories
Interview by Maria Loy

M.L.: Do you have reasons for painting?

G.C.: Not just reasons, but an imperious need. While painting, I set into motion my dreams, my nightmares, as well as my thoughts. I am always inspired by a theme or a situation; once it’s clear to me, I devise a structure and then I am free to play with it. The course of an idea is always verging on change, and sometimes I allow myself to fall. This makes me feel a sense of vertigo, as if the boundaries are in motion.

M.L. I don’t understand what you mean by “falling in a painting.”

G.C.: I play with trying to make certain parts disappear, and therefore the structure of the plan is in flux. I’ll invert the figure and the background and, and I’ll keep rearranging them. Something new will come from it, and the elements that formerly defined the situation now become mere details. Arranging and rearranging simultaneously produces both discomfort and relief within me. Basically, I work with this difficult equilibrium. This technique helps me to give form to something that is within a movement. The continuing quest of my work is the context of motion: image-movement. I can say that for me it’s an obsession, I want to represent life as it is, in continuous flow.