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Mauricio Trenard-Sayago |
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Artist's Statement
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I
was born in Santiago de Cuba, July 17th 1963. The home in which I was raised was always closely linked with art. I was surrounded by clay objects; plaster figures, broken molds, as well as the artistic debates sustained by the various artists and art history professors in my family. This environment strongly influenced my artistic inclination.
I studied and grew up under Cuba’s isolated, Socialist system. This reality changed very little until the early 90’s when the island was subjected to abject scarcity produced by the fall of the Soviet Union -- which had previously helped to support us. By necessity, this scarcity forced Cuba to open up to the capitalist world. From that point on, the reality around me began to shift—revealing new symbols of private property, tourism and the power of the dollar in commercializing art.
During this time I chose bronze as my medium (cast from scrap in a foundry I built myself). My goal with this series was to assemble objects and images from different natural sources that were around me to create new images and new messages. Through small-scale sculptures characterized by the manipulation of objects from my environment, I succeeded both in expressing myself artistically and alleviating the harsh economic crisis in which I was living. Because bronze was a material few artists used in the Oriente region, it was attractive to foreign collectors and I sold a great deal of work. The resulting figures were symbolic within the Cuban cultural context.
Since arriving in the United States in 2000, my interaction with a new “reality” has generated a series of vital experiences full of different codes and signifiers. Finding the means and medium to maintain and express my identity within my new reality is one of the great challenges that I face today. The process of adapting to a new socio-cultural system can become a sort of battle where the loser ends up dissolved into nothingness—losing oneself to the masses- and in fact contributing to the expansion of the masses. The winner is the one who has adapted without losing his own identity.
Fusion, Identity and Transculturization are the phases that form part of the adaptation process. These are some of the themes reflected in my art currently. My work revolves around what man resorts to in order to not stop being who he is. It is about avoiding looking back and not recognizing your own past.
Today painting is what affords me both a process and a medium to express myself. The process pushes me to reflect and find creative solutions to reaffirm my identity.
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Education
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E
ducation:
EASTERN UNIVERSITY
(UNIVERSIDAD DE ORIENTE)
Santiago de Cuba
BA, Art History, May 1992
UPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR FINE ARTS
(ESCUELA MEDIA SUPERIOR DE ARTES PLASTICAS)
Santiago de Cuba
High School of Fine Arts, May 1983
THE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION (INSTITUTO SUPERIOR PEDAGOGICO)
Santiago de Cuba and Havana
Graduate Coursework (160 hours) includes: Art Education (1987), Pedagogy/Psychology: Working with the School, The Family and the Community (1995), Pedagogy/Psychology: The Differentiation of Classes in Teaching (1994).
THE CENTER FOR ART EDUCATION (CENTRO DE ENSENAZA ARTISTICA)
Havana, Cuba
Graduate Coursework (120 hours) include: Aesthetics (October 1994), National Seminar for Cuban Culture (September 1995), Art Appreciation (1996).
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Group Exhibition
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SamSon Projects: SuperSalon Soiree. Boston, NY (2004)
• White Columns: Benefit for Groundswell Community Mural Project. NY, NY (2004)
• Peter’s Valley Craft Center Gallery: Instructor Exhibition. Layton, NJ (2003)
• Brooklyn Academy of Music: Orishas. Brooklyn, NY (2002)
• Hotel Nacional, Havana, Cuba (1998-2000)
• Galeria Forma, Havana, Cuba (1996-2000)
• Galeria Victor Manuel, Havana, Cuba (1996-2000)
• Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro, Cadiz, Spain (1998)
• Feria de las Americas, Guadalajara, Mexico (1998)
• Private Collections include: Spain, Germany, France, US (Danny Simmons), England and the Dominican Republic.
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Honors / Awards
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P
UBLIC ART/ COMMISSIONS/ AWARDS INCLUDE:
• Commission to design and fabricate sculpture garden, ceramic reliefs and metal sculpture for new community center (Fifth Avenue Committee), Brooklyn, NY (2004).
• Brooklyn Arts Council Regrant Recipient (2004)
• Santiago Conservation & Preservation: Monument Restoration, Reproduction & Creation (1998-2000)
• Cuban Catholic Church: Founded Medallions for Pope John Paul II’s landmark visit (1999)
• Taller Cultural Luis Diaz Oduardo: Member of Artist Collective, Santiago Cuba (1995-2000)
Produced work in: bronze and printmaking.
• Prehistoric Museum: As Lead Sculptor, researched, designed and created life-size reproductions of dinosaurs for national park. Supervised crew of seven. Baconao, Cuba (1985-1987)
• Various bronze plaques for religious, historic and cultural institutions (1996-2000)
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Background
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M
auricio Trenard Sayago
“Retratos de Memoria en mi Memoria”
(Portraits from Memory in my Memory)
Returning to the classic theme of the portrait in painting, I have created this series of portraits that –while not reflecting anyone in particular-- reflect the different states and moods that man experiences as he interacts with a foreign environment and ecology.
I believe there is a reason why memory has the special capacity to locate, classify, order and give dimension to our past thoughts. It is to preserve ourselves, to remember who we are, to enable us to retrace our paths in the case we are lost. Memory is the curious, beautiful receptacle in which we store our identity.
This series is a visual study about my identity as a Cuban. I have explored my own memory for interior portraits. In the portraits, irony, comedy, anger and sadness flower through simple daily themes. The absence of my indigenous environment makes its presence through memory. This absence helps me meditate about identity, which on first glance seems so simple but is transcendent, necessary and essential for everyone everywhere.
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