“With my work I try to recover the same emotion I felt as a child”

Painter David Moratón exhibits in Los Lavaderos Hall his series ‘Fantasy and Synesthesia’

SANTA CRUZ

“I don’t like to call it talent. I simply think that I have the gift of seeing what others don’t see,” says David Moratón (Berlin, 1974) to define his work. The painter, who studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Hanover (Germany), exhibits for the first time in Tenerife at Los Lavaderos Hall with the exhibition ‘Fantasy and Synesthesia’.

According to the artist, the exhibition is divided into two parts: “The first brings together fantasy works, in their majority dreams or visions, spiral compositions encouraged by a philosophy situated in the subtle zone of encounter between occidental vitalism and oriental thought.” The second part addresses synesthesia, “a capacity that allows me to see colours, in an involuntary and unconscious way, when listening to sounds.”

In fact, Fantasy is not an arbitrary title. “I paint what I dream. I have a very special relationship with dreams. I have very vivid dreams and I remember them perfectly. I have entire conversations with people who are no longer here, I see landscapes that don’t exist and I dream of sounds. Sometimes I dream that I’m composing music and I hear it perfectly in my dreams.”

The painter bases his work on his childhood memories. “With my work I try to recover the same emotion I felt as a child. I remember that as a child I drew with great emotion, something that I don’t feel now when I draw. I have been trying to regain that feeling for many years.”

From the synesthetic point of view, “I see colours when I listen to sounds. The letter ‘a’ appears gray to me, the ‘e’ blue, the ‘i’ light blue, the ‘o’ violet and the ‘u’ dark blue. When I listen to music, I see brushstrokes of paint. I can literally see the sound of guitars,” he explains.

Two of the works collected in the exhibition are the transcription of segments of music (excerpts from Tristan and Isolde by Wagner), just as this music appears in the painter’s mind. Another group also refers to the influence of music in art, such as those executed based on the work of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara.

“When I go to listen to a concert, I experience the music in a different way than other people. I not only hear it, but I also see it. I see colours, shapes, movements. It’s like having a private cinema in my head,” he states.

The exhibition can be visited until September 30 at Los Lavaderos Hall.

Diario de Avisos, Tenerife, Spain
29 September
2004