rafael perÉz

HARO, spain

Rafael Peréz, Untitled - 1, porcelain, black earthenware and stain, 19 x 19 cm. — Rafael Peréz, *Untitled - 1,* porcelain, black earthenware and stain, 19 x 19 cm.

Rafael Peréz, Untitled - 2, porcelain, black earthenware and stain, 22 x 19 cm. — Rafael Peréz, *Untitled - 2,* porcelain, black earthenware and stain, 22 x 19 cm.

Rafael Peréz, Untitled - 3, porcelain and black earthenware, 19 x 19 cm. — Rafael Peréz, *Untitled - 3,* porcelain and black earthenware, 19 x 19 cm.

Day 30

I defend in my trench

A mania,

A me that escapes me,

A very fragile me.

I hold on furiously

To the belief

(That I know is false),

Because nothing

insists on hugging me,

And I'm fast

Asleep in those arms.

Day 33

Ok:

I go blind,

I become deaf,

I become mute ..

Let me be pierced

By fierce wind,

I roll myself up into a ball,

At zero,

I protect myself,

I look askance at

The new time.

Day 38

I have arrows for fingers,

I have a bow in my arms,

I shoot

At the bottom of a water well

Arrows made of ice.

Day 39

I cross diagonally

To save time,

To walk less.

I save just

What I don't have,

I save quickly

The black air.

I run to get there

Before myself

Indoors.

Day 40

I live a soft bewilderment.

I never had a watch

But now it is time.

I wear glasses,

Air is free for me

And memory.

And my conscience is lazy,

I'm not sorry.

I chew the colours lazily,

Sometimes I walk with the bluish light ..

I yawn

during the lockdown, RAFAEL PERÉZ HAS BEEN painting familiar landscapes from memory, returning to the medium he worked in long before he discovered ceramics. “social isolation with paintbrushes in hand is not too bad”.

Rafael Peréz, Untitled – 1, 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 25 cm x 25 cm. “I’ve been a painter since childhood—long before I became a ceramist. In this time of confinement, I tried to paint the little world where I have lived all my life— b… — Rafael Peréz, *Untitled – 1,* 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 25 cm x 25 cm. “I’ve been a painter since childhood—long before I became a ceramist. In this time of confinement, I tried to paint the little world where I have lived all my life— but without visiting the places, without looking at photos, painting only from impressions and feelings. I made 160 paintings. And no, I haven’t done this in clay. But I often paint in clay, using overglazes and slips...and I get different results.”

Rafael Peréz, Untitled –2, 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 25 cm — **Rafael Peréz, *Untitled –2*,** 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 25 cm

Rafael Perez, Untitled – 4, 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 25 cm — Rafael Perez, *Untitled – 4,* 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 25 cm

Rafael Peréz, Untitled – 3, 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 20 cm — Rafael Peréz, *Untitled – 3,* 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 20 cm

Rafael Perez, Untitled – 5, 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 25 cm — Rafael Perez, *Untitled – 5,* 2020. Gouache and oil pastels on paper, 30 cm x 25 cm

BIO: rafael pérez

Rafael “Rafa” Pérez was born in Haro, La Rioja, Spain, in 1957. He originally studied economics but later decided to be an artist and has pursued this career ever since. His work is about surprising himself and his audience, using white porcelain and black earthenware clay, fired at high temperature. The black earthenware expands, creating a volcanic landscape—not just a natural landscape, because it is directed by him. When he opens the kiln and doesn’t recognize the pieces as his own, he enjoys the surprise, and loves the way the fire appears to leave bits of itself behind in the finished products: the glaze looks like paint still clinging to the walls of a burned house.

Rafael has held numerous exhibitions and won numerous awards internationally. In 2007, he was elected to the International Academy of Ceramics and is a member of Art Axis. He currently lives in a small Spanish city famous for its wine and recently became a grandfather.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

rafapharo@yahoo.es

www.rafaperez.es

@rafapharo

rate of affection

Rafael Peréz nominates Kim Suksun