My previous installations were about consciousness and thought processes in an abstract way. Focus has shifted to a very human level of consciousness inside us from personal and social experiences. I do not trust any divisons and concepts of an “East”and a “West” or “Asia” and “Europe”. I can now only see a very broad, borderless and inseparably connected ‘Africa-Eurasia-Pacific-Americas’. A world of very ancient interchange and mutual influences. Ideas, concepts, spiritual thought, aesthetic elements, songs, images, styles, experiences are all light-weight and immaterial items yet have been the most powerful items carried, exchanged and hybrided through all the human times and spaces probably. I also do not trust any concept of nations, nationality and culturallly fixed elements since all cultures exist only in fluidity. Images inside of us, outside of us and in between us play an important role. Human experiences traumatic and happy create inner images, intensities and consciousnesses which are passed on, shared, denied, cherished, transformed on and on. It is part of my attempt in my paintings to make this a little bit visible and tangible.
My interests are in the theatricality of modern life. How people and society deal with with deep trauma both personal and collective. Mixed places (caves, shores, mountains, skies, generic architectural spaces, roads, etc). Transnational lives, transcultural influences and acts of making things, works, art. The acrobatics of trying to find a balance and to survive by holding up a mixture of life. I believe it is important to ask myself what my stand point or 立場 is. I paint in between the existing and established lines, patterns, categories, identities, genders, concepts and present images.
Pol Malo 2020