I Still Don’t Have a Title – Antonio Carrau

45 

  • Expected release: end of March 2024
  • 170 x 240 mm
  • Hard cover
  • Exposed spine
  • 90g paper
  • 160 pages
  • First edition of 100 copies
  • ISBN 978-989-35510-3-5

Published by Stolen Books, 2024

SKU: 37010 Category: Tags: , , ,

I was trained in graphic design, and I guess that shows in my work through the compositions and reduced color palettes. Collage, for me, is like an analogue version of Photoshop or Illustrator: I work in layers to build up an image. And unless you paste something you are not leaving marks while trying different positions for an object.

Paper is my main medium. I’ve learnt to create images from paper cuts. Even if I have no idea what to do, I sit at my desk and start cutting papers without any plans. After a while, there’s a bunch of papers on the table and things start flowing. 

My work comes from observation. Real life, the internet, music, movies, all merged together into one thing. It’s a big blurry gray area in which different disciplines mix, and the analog and digital world find each other. Many times I’ve tried to define it but that only stops me; I’ll just rather make the work and let it find its space.

Most of the things I’ve learnt by myself, through experience, browsing the internet or talking with people; I never received any proper art education. I even didn’t like collage very much, the first few times I tried this technique it was because I was trying to do paintings but was overwhelmed with the infinite possibilities. Limitations work for me. And then, when trying to document the work, after lots of frustrated photographic trials, I tried using a scanner and that worked. This is where I accidentally started integrating the digital world as part of the process. The scanner does something different to the work than registering it with a camera. The grain of the paper and the layers are highlighted. 

The workspace is really important for my image creation, I can’t work in a tidy space. Having a messy desk full of cuts is the best way to get ideas flowing and great for discovering new color palettes. Many of the things that trigger ideas in my work are things I’ve found on the table or going through an old folder, generally stuff that was not done intentionally. 

This book is a work selection which is part of an ongoing process and exploration. I have no idea where this is heading.