Immerse Yourself in the Poetic Hyperrealism of Luiz Escañuela

Domestika Creatives accompanies the Brazilian artist on a sensory journey through his work and inspirations

What’s real in our image-based era? We are constantly exposed to millions of images: on TV, in photos, videos, social media, art... In this context, increasing or reducing the scale of the imagery is a way to guide attention towards a particular topic, and to invite audiences to enjoy a visual and a sensory experience.

For Brazilian artist Luiz Escañuela, maximizing and minimizing means that “the information contained in the initial material, the references, is given new meaning and reinforced within its new frame.” His work explores the intercessions between human bodies and nature, and asks viewers to reflect on social, identity, territorial and historical issues.

Discover more about this painter’s work and inspiration in this Domestika Creatives episode. Luiz combines hyper-realistic painting with anatomical drawing and texture to create works that stimulate perception. See more in the video!

Image and likeness

“Macro and micro formats both allow us to interpret the relationships between our bodies and the organic functions of nature,” explains Luiz.

His imaginative patterns of shape and movement connect veins and valleys, wrinkles and rivers, nerves and roots, and many other pairings. “The shape into which our veins spread resembles the map of a river flowing through a city or country,” notes the artist.

Some of Escañuela’s works give human skin the scale of a river map. In the following image, he presents these elements at a size that’s inversely proportional to the real.

Order and chaos

Luiz’s creative process involves considerable planning, detail and expertise. “I believe that finding inspiration in observation requires discipline,” he explains.

His work is supported by a meticulous design and creative process that is more logical than it is impulsive.

However, in his most recent works, the artist has started to explore the body through the process of adding texture to the blank canvas.

He needed to escape from the meticulous planning of the 5 cm2 grid used in hyper-realism and to explore new ways of finding order in chaos.

From the end to the beginning

“In some ways, I feel that one painting is a continuation of the other, which means that the end is never finite,” Luiz affirms.

The artist starts on his next work while his current painting is in process or coming to an end, even if he only makes inroads into the new idea or project. This creates a sense of continuity across his work.

However, when a work is presented to the public, he receives a different response, as some interpretations are completely different from his initial intentions, which disconnects the artist from the work and allows the painting to take on its own life. “Art is infinite,” he concludes.

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