Silvino González Morales, Diving Inside, X-ray salt print on hand-cut negative

Colombian, b. 1975, playing in Bogotá, Colombia

I began my life as a photographer a bit late; after my struggle to find myself in engineering I finally decided to follow my dad's foot prints and decided to pursuit my love for photography.

For me my career as a graphic designer, but especially photography are my way to keep my bipolar condition under control; my peronal treatment and many of my works are deeply influenced by my changing and contradicting mood states.

But it was the discovery of the "alternative photographic processes" and the influence of Omaira Abadia that really defined my approach to the photographic art.

I'm a Colombian visual artist and designer; my work is focused on finding artistic pathways to melt traditional cultural roots with a global worldwide vision. Right now my goal is to experiment with mixtures between classical (analogical) and digital techniques of representation, capture and print of images; trying to find a personal way to express my vision and feelings about a lot of topics.

My main theme is the city: its landscape, it struggles, it stigmas, it inhabitants, it outsiders. The city as an extension of the humans and its relationships are an extension in direct relationship with the city. I live in a city which is a mixture of so many elements and factors, a destination for thousands of people running from 40 years of warfare, a place to live, learn, dream and suffer. A city destroyed and rebuilt, full of people giving the best to build and rebuild their own dreams and lives. But above all of it a city full of hope and hard work.

I try to reflect in my work my concerns about my role like a man and an artist in a process between traditions and preconceptions and more post modern perceptions about myself, my sexuality, my place and my future. Between traditions, rituals, history and a little dose of nihilism and a hedonistic search I try to find equilibrium. I'm a bipolar person, my work is a catharsis, and a declaration of pride about my condition; my art pieces try to talk about my country, our wars, our pain, our dreams, our cultural melting pot and our never ending search of meaning. The other ever present theme in my work is the concept of role as a cultural creation which have little relationship with the human beings and it's the fruit of powers in some specific space and time.

I don't believe I create photographs, instead I think I build images using photography medium and techniques as a part of the process of give material sense to concepts and ideas. I deeply admire to the artists who are able to capture meaningful instants and freeze it in time, as a watcher I enjoy it so much. But as a creator, I see myself more like an artisan, like a designer who play with ideas, thoughts, cultural values and pressures; who try to balance tensions, tones, shapes in the pursuit of visual pieces that are maybe photographic in it's deep nature but that are beyond the act of capture alone.

Thoughts on the Telephone process

Ok here we go, it has been really cool and exciting to participate, so far that I have decided to give a jump in my work (one delayed for some time) and hand paint the photograph.

The idea of interpret other media ideas in some ways is natural for me, my photographic works usually is born from music or literature, not always from visual concepts. The project have been an amazing opportunity to broad my horizons, to expand the reach of my experimentations and the idea of work in conjunction with other people is for me one of the most interesting practices of modern world. To put my favorite example: The discovery of the Higgs’ boson, is the fruit of a human effort instead of a personal achievement; and that’s is amazing for me, for the first time in so much time the notion of creation and discovery as an effort of the species, of human tribes, of groups of people working together is a reality.

And a project like this one is an extension of that “wave of the age”, we are billions of people who will accomplish greater tasks and goals working together besides ethnics, ages, faiths or geography. It is our destiny and our responsibility to build the bases for interdisciplinary mindsets which will help to produce a better future.