In my paintings I look for poetry and inner truth, rather than simple representation. A truth glimpsed through instinct , not cold , dry reason.
They are always figurative, meditative and often symbolical, not in the literary sense, but in the way that the interaction of elements suggest unseen , yet powerful connections. Artistic truth arises from our perception and interaction with the world over time, conditioned by the accumulation of experience , reactions and memory.
The world we see is filtered by the world we feel.
The hopeless quest for beauty and the source of the passions and fears that keep us alive, and make us what we are, the spell of things seen , felt and loved but not quite understood, these are some of the things that drive me to paint.
Sometimes a mere fragment contains it all and it sometimes happens that I re-do a painting so as to make it incomplete, and all the more perfect for it.
Meanings come after, if at all, for words can never adequately describe what is going on in an image that seduces and troubles one.
The paintings are done in oils as I find no other medium is as rich or versatile. Particularly, it allows time enough for the work to develop without rush.
António Macedo