In 2024, I lived in Granada for four months. It was a sensational experience, especially the architecture and the afternoons I spent wandering through Sacromonte. I was seeking emptiness, a retreat from the influence of cities, in order to find a timeless state.
I think, unconsciously, I was looking outward for a reflection of the inner. I’ve been letting go of habits and beliefs for years, leaving behind parts of life already lived and assimilated, so that I could embark on a new path, lighter and more present.
At that time, I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. This book taught me a great deal; understanding mental noise and the influence of the past on my present was key to freeing myself from outdated attachments.
I painted a mural in the center of Granada, Lucid Dream (Invisible Window), which foreshadowed my future on the walls, a minimalist and profound design that puzzled neighbors and passersby used to the figurative tradition of Granadan painting.
During those four months in Granada, I didn’t paint a single canvas. I spent my days wandering the city, reading, and drawing. It was the first time I took drawing seriously. Until then, I had only drawn sketches for murals, which is not the same. I had started drawing during my stay in Rome in 2023.
Bawie (Black And White Is Enough) is a series of sixty drawings that reflect this period, the farewell to the past Erb and the amorphous, floating state I embraced as an essential transition to reach a new now, free of attachments.
I long for simplicity in my encounter with Zen, the well-being of self-love, and the absence of responsibility, productivity, and approval. When you free yourself from these three anchors, life changes and no longer depends on affirmations or reasons, it is simply being without belonging.
I believe Bawie is the prelude to where I am now, a key work in my artistic journey. I needed some time to understand what happened in Granada, it was a mystical moment.
