Nacho Eterno
Nacho Eterno is a self-taught painter and ceramist who used to tattoo and paint murals in Barcelona before moving to the countryside near Girona. Many of the animals he paints are taken from folklore, while the flat shapes and heavy black come from his time as a tattooist. For him ceramics is very similar to drawing, apart from the technical side. He has shown in Joshua Tree, Copenhagen and Sydney, and his work is in the collection of the Bank of Denmark. At the end of the year he shows at NADA and Untitled in Miami.
Q: You tattooed and painted murals in Barcelona before you moved to the countryside. How did you find your way into painting?
A: I think it's been a very natural change; I've always been painting, but with the lockdown I started putting all my energy into it.
I moved out from Barcelona to the countryside and focused on what I love.
Q: Your paintings still have something graphic about them. How much of the tattooing stayed with you?
A: Some of the compositions I used to make, the use of a big amount of black, and the simplification.
Q: Where do your characters and animal-like forms come from?
A: They are a mix of real and fantastic animals; many of them come from folklore.
Q: You also work in ceramics. Does that change how you think about a piece?
A: Not really, it's very similar to drawing, but you have to take the technical aspects into account when thinking about a new figure.
Q: How does a painting start for you? What does a day in the studio look like?
A: Sometimes I build some of the paintings in an improvised way, adding elements like tattoo flash, but other times I work on a very basic sketch.
I usually start working around 8 and take a break from 12:30 to 15:00 normally and then I work again till 19:00-20:00. I wish the days were longer.
Q: Sombrero Rojo opened at Hey There Projects in Joshua Tree this year. What's coming up after it?
A: After it, I did a duo show in Odense at Albert Contemporary and then the Enter Art Fair in Copenhagen. At the end of the year, I'll be showing some paintings in NADA and Untitled Miami.
