United Kingdom
Angel Correa
BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR
The protagonists in my current work are generally military servicemen who; alongside others who have endured profound and unimaginable violence; are depicted as though human figure through the concept of positive space and negative space; silhouette, and contrast. My intention is to dedicate myself to the representation of real or imagined events, dreams and myths, or classical themes through the use of line, pattern and fragmentation.
In context of my creative process, I hold at the forefront of my mind a deeply-personal narrative which reflects on the horror of certain aspects of our present-day world. Having lived myself through the midst of decades of social conflict in Colombia, violence and terrorism in which millions were violently killed, injured or simply vanished without a trace, I’m able to articulate rich personal experience within my enquiry.
In context of my enduring curiosity about how we retain a sense of ‘purpose and meaning’ by co-creating various beliefs and then accepting them as truths, I often find myself in pursuit of such polarised and universal concepts as death versus life, hate versus love, chaos versus balance, violence versus peace, hell versus heaven, and fantasy versus reality.
As a result of my efforts to explore in some detail various concepts embedded in surrealistic art and magic realism, much of my work is about distorting the images in pursuit of depicting a sense of wholeness; and of life-force; to an otherwise impaired body or mind.
In that sense, my viewers have been encouraged to access their own past visual and somatic memories by means of my own art, all whilst reflecting on my surrealistic notion of human figure – in this case typically deceased, profoundly injured or disable servicemen who somehow found the means to ‘come back from the brink’ in order to inspire their relatives and loved ones, comfort them, and encourage them to extract greater meaning from their own lives and contributions.
It is my hope that viewers of my ideas and readers of my narrative are drawn to something visceral; something based on their own unique past histories (as well as past considerations of life and death) in consideration of the ‘space in between’ the gift of life and the moment of death. I realise that such a reflective journey on the part of an observer can catch one off guard; it can be powerful, emotive and sometimes profoundly healing, as well.
There isn’t any scope for me to continue to research and explore the concepts of social and cultural identity, considering that such matters are difficult to capture and record with simplicity. My commitment is to exploring the various ways in which unconscious material can be turned into something which is visually surrealistic and challenging but somehow tangible, given that it is represented through the inevitably limited medium of whatever ends up on my canvases or sculptures through drawing, modelling and painting.
Angel Correa, 2019
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The goal and intention of my work is to underscore the realisation that, despite the strident moves in the Western world, many continue to die at our feet, serving as totems of our comparatively good fortune. My most profound motivation as an artist is to interrogate the vagaries of various social constructs which make this the case. It is perhaps for this reason that I enjoy interesting and unusual people, sights, textures and sounds in the urban and natural environments.
A former journalist, I am warm, loyal, private and patient in my dealings with others, and I’m happiest when I’m being creative and expressing myself. I find very often myself thriving in co-created situations of unstructured social chaos, and I use my creativity, memories and imagination to explore what these situations seem to mean to those who are impelled to inhabit them.
The protagonists in my current work are generally military servicemen who; alongside others who have endured profound and unimaginable violence; are depicted as though human figure through the concept of positive space and negative space; silhouette, and contrast. My intention is to dedicate myself to the representation of real or imagined events, dreams and myths, or classical themes through the use of line, pattern and fragmentation.
In context of my creative process, I hold at the forefront of my mind a deeply-personal narrative which reflects on the horror of certain aspects of our present-day world. Having lived myself through the midst of decades of social conflict in Colombia, violence and terrorism in which millions were violently killed, injured or simply vanished without a trace, I’m able to articulate rich personal experience within my enquiry.
In context of my enduring curiosity about how we retain a sense of ‘purpose and meaning’ by co-creating various beliefs and then accepting them as truths, I often find myself in pursuit of such polarised and universal concepts as death versus life, hate versus love, chaos versus balance, violence versus peace, hell versus heaven, and fantasy versus reality.
As a result of my efforts to explore in some detail various concepts embedded in surrealistic art and magic realism, much of my work is about distorting the images in pursuit of depicting a sense of wholeness; and of life-force; to an otherwise impaired body or mind.
In that sense, my viewers have been encouraged to access their own past visual and somatic memories by means of my own art, all whilst reflecting on my surrealistic notion of human figure – in this case typically deceased, profoundly injured or disable servicemen who somehow found the means to ‘come back from the brink’ in order to inspire their relatives and loved ones, comfort them, and encourage them to extract greater meaning from their own lives and contributions.
It is my hope that viewers of my ideas and readers of my narrative are drawn to something visceral; something based on their own unique past histories (as well as past considerations of life and death) in consideration of the ‘space in between’ the gift of life and the moment of death. I realise that such a reflective journey on the part of an observer can catch one off guard; it can be powerful, emotive and sometimes profoundly healing, as well.
There isn’t any scope for me to continue to research and explore the concepts of social and cultural identity, considering that such matters are difficult to capture and record with simplicity. My commitment is to exploring the various ways in which unconscious material can be turned into something which is visually surrealistic and challenging but somehow tangible, given that it is represented through the inevitably limited medium of whatever ends up on my canvases or sculptures through drawing, modelling and painting.
Angel Correa, 2019
Add your description here
The goal and intention of my work is to underscore the realisation that, despite the strident moves in the Western world, many continue to die at our feet, serving as totems of our comparatively good fortune. My most profound motivation as an artist is to interrogate the vagaries of various social constructs which make this the case. It is perhaps for this reason that I enjoy interesting and unusual people, sights, textures and sounds in the urban and natural environments.
A former journalist, I am warm, loyal, private and patient in my dealings with others, and I’m happiest when I’m being creative and expressing myself. I find very often myself thriving in co-created situations of unstructured social chaos, and I use my creativity, memories and imagination to explore what these situations seem to mean to those who are impelled to inhabit them.
