Rogelio Olmedo: Sculptures on red heels
Sculptures that walk between art and memory.
Rogelio OlmedoAragonese sculptor, has always had memories of himself drawing and although life would take him down less creative paths in his youth, when you are born an artist it is something that eventually you can't avoid. In today's post we accompany him through his beginnings drawing surrounded by his brothers, his artistic process and we fall in love a little bit with his wonderful house in Mallorca.
Tell us about yourself and your sculptures. Where did your vocation begin? Any first memories?
As far as I remember I always drew at home with my brothers. Later I gathered some tools and built things. My grandmother, when I was ten years old, gave me a toolbox and taught me how to sew. This situation was born out of abundance.
My grandfather had a toy store and we had access to all the latest toys. At some point I started building our own. Later on, I started a law degree. Still in Zaragoza, I didn't consider the possibility of doing something creative, but I drew and drew.
After three years, I tried going to Barcelona, to the Escola Massana, and there a wonderful world opened up for me that I have not been able to give up. Since then, maybe too much outdoors, but security didn't want me to be free. Now I have the option of combining the two.
What do you find most satisfying about your work, and any that you are particularly proud of?
I am pleased to see that something in me knows how to do. Over time, I have learned routines, to anticipate problems or to associate with them and make the most of them. Surely, the techniques I have chosen favour surprises. But it's not really that easy either. It's somewhere between exciting and serene.
Some days I know that I have no idea and I have to hide the drawings so that, after a few days, I can recognise whether they are good or not. People recognise the best ones and leave the less good ones. There is objectively some truth.
What is your creative process like, what are your sources of inspiration, any particular music while working?
I am interested in people, individually and in groups. How we perceive reality, how it changes between generations, between cultures and yet how much it repeats itself. I think we are in a moment of metamorphosis, we are more and more capable of combining different categories in a natural way, the results will be unsuspected. And of course good humour and joy.
I usually work without music. In the iron workshop there is a lot of noise and we wear insulating earmuffs. In the drawing workshop I like silence, although some days I listen to familiar music like Bach or Bill Evans. I play music when I make myself lunch, suggestions from Spotify. Sometimes my son makes me listen to what he likes; rap and hip hop, and I love it.
Favourite colour, book, film and record - in that order! ;D
Colour: Yellow.
Book: Tao te chi. By Lao Tse.
Film: Spirited Away. From Studio Ghibli.
Disc: Goldberg Variations. By Glenn Gould.
Is your home a reflection of who you are? Tell us what it smells like, your favourite corner, your favourite decorative object or piece of furniture, if you treasure a collection... And if you have a pet, introduce it to us!
I love our house. Facing the sunrise and sunset. With a huge orange tree. Putting fruit on the wood cooker and it smells like toasted sugar. When I've just picked it and it smells clean, and I'm tired and I can rest.
I keep remnants of a comic book collection from the eighties that has survived numerous house moves and we are accompanied by Mel, a little dog that we adore and leaves me all covered in hair, but I am reluctant to peel her.
If you could buy anything right now and take it home, what would it be? Anything!
A Rotko, a Guston, a Goya self-portrait and a Susumu Shingu mobile.
A great plan at home always includes...
A good party with friends.
Do you have a signature dish?
Puttanesca sauce, potatoes with prawns... ah! how I love it! cooking. Even for me alone!
Where is your favourite place in your city and abroad?
Stroll at dawn from Maurizio's beach bar to the Palerm's house and say hello. Sunset from Carlos' house to Caló dels Monjos.
A liquor store in Lambertville, NJ. In winter. All wood, footsteps echoing. Liquors from all over the world. Tidy, lit up like a big library. We are served almost whispering by a young man, in Spanish with a strong American accent.
The plaza in Coyoacán. A wedding with mariachis and a juice stand.
A cocktail bar on a July evening in Amsterdam with Bill Evans.
