Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jose Antonio Torres. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jose Antonio, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

I was a graphic design student and even then I drew every day, not just the technical drawing or color theory assignments they gave us, using ruling pens to mark the painting area, which I then filled in with brushes. Every time we had to create chromatic circles of supplementary, complementary colors, towards whites, grays, and darks, I also occasionally took classes in Teresa Suárez Vértiz’s art workshop, located in an old house in the Miraflores district of Lima, where I would go to paint three or four times a week surrounded by great artists who inspired me greatly.

I remember a very large portrait of an old man, done on thick cotton fiber paper, which I drew with charcoal and then fixed with spray before building a texture of superimposed lines with pastels. I made measured and thoughtful strokes to compose a sad, cold, and hard face, similar to the faces of the Peruvian highlands. Weeks later, with a solid portrait and happy to have achieved it, so realistic, I decided to frame it. The day I picked it up, I walked home proudly carrying it. I passed in front of an art gallery and stopped, dreaming that one day I could exhibit my works in a place like that.

I was surprised to see the director of the place approach and ask if that work was mine. I answered (between shy and surprised) that yes, and she asked again, I understand it’s yours, but who painted it? To which I replied, I did. Two hours later, after signing some documents, I left the gallery with 300 dollars, a considerable sum for me. Without hesitation, that lady bought my art, the work I had done with so much effort, which filled me with pride, happiness, and motivation to continue dreaming of being an artist.

Jose Antonio, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I paint music, create sculptures, and explore other approaches to connect with the visuality of music and its interaction with listeners, space, memory, and materialization. My work seeks a philosophical approach to music, investigating sound art within the context of contemporary art. I delve into frequencies, energies, vibrations, and other materials, exploring the artistic connections of music.

I specialize in visualizing music and researching the philosophical behaviors of music. In the artistic community, I am known for my avant-garde thinking, courage in proposing advanced themes, interest in creating art that has never been done before, and for not fearing the market or criticism. In summary, I am known for creating cutting-edge art.

I am proud of my consistency in my sound art research project. I always strive to grow as an artist and venture into new markets without fear of rejection or questioning of my work. I approach my work with seriousness and professionalism, proud to showcase, discuss, and support my art with the conviction that I am ready to transcend in the history of art.

I take pride in painting music because music is one of the most connecting elements for people. Music is a cultural icon, and it is so widely consumed that I am proud to have found a way to paint it.

What sets me apart from other artists is my refusal to yield to market demands. I do not confine myself; I create what I want without being subject to market responses or preferences. My handling of color is admired, and the care I put into the concept is something many artists do not do. I work diligently on the conceptual framework and what lies behind the artwork.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Since I was a child, I was always certain that being an artist was an excellent idea; I spent hours drawing while my cousins played. And yes, I also shared time with them, until I ended up under some table with that beautiful red book, pencils, crayons, or anything I could find. After school, my father, who was an architect and illustrator, worked on the facades he had designed, using benzene markers and colors that looked like watercolors, while I watched him amazed, wishing I could paint like that someday.

At some point, I considered studying architecture, since at that time a career in illustration or interior design was not considered a profession, but mathematics steered me away from those paths. Later, I wanted to study art, always art, but my parents’ limited vision diverted me from that idea.

Afterward, I leaned towards marketing, where I returned after several years and started with graphic design, a craft that brought me closer to creativity and painting, activating my restless mind, with an advertising structure that wasn’t bad. Business, marketing, and internal communication (Endomarketing) led me to a comfort zone governed by an economic income that provides some tranquility at a certain point in life; however, art found a way to express those crazy desires to transcend.

I began to lose my vision and was going blind. It was then that, after consulting several specialists, I arrived at an old-school optometrist who acted as a psychologist and encouraged me to take a sabbatical year, which turned out to be only a couple of months. On the Caribbean beaches of Costa Rica, I rediscovered my path to art, with the same enthusiasm as when I was naive, with the same intensity as when I was a design student, and with the same illusion as when I assisted more experienced artists, with an immense desire to conquer the world.

I don’t know if I would have wanted to start my creative career sooner or later, because the contemporary artist I am today would not have the same concerns, thoughts, interests, forms, desires, tastes, ideas, nor the art or the type of work I do now. Who knows if I would have been able to understand creation as I see it today; I don’t know if I would have the same desire to conquer the world, to transcend, to continue playing at being able to paint under a table at home again.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2014, while residing in Bogota, I was reviewing my playful project that had already transformed into “Mystery,” into “Bogotá Bay,” into objects, into video art, and into some short films. It was then that I discovered a science that makes sound visible, through the vibratory movement generated by its frequencies. In my studio in Bogota, I explored sound as an artistic resource, in addition to my brushes. I conducted experiments with waves and frequencies that, almost a decade later, I frequently see on social media, linked to healing and surprise.

It’s not common to know these mysteries of nature. I have spent ten years investigating not only the visuality of music, but also the composition of a song through its visuality, painting songs, creating sound sculptures, establishing connections with memory, space, and emptiness, and developing sound devices that serve to play and see, but never to hear.

This artistic project, which began as a fun exercise, has transformed into a research project that has taken me on two occasions to contemporary art residencies in Sao Paulo and to exhibitions in Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, Santiago de Chile, Lima, Cusco, and Sao Paulo. It is a project that continues to evolve as I delve into different aspects and that pleasantly surprises me every time I propose a new exercise.

Currently, the movement of sound, its influence on historical symbolism, the creation of an object that traverses the sonority of a city like New York, the memory and emptiness generated by musical memories, and the measurement of the emotion that music provokes to paint a song, lead me to conquer musical genres through visuality, mainly of songs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artsonify.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joseantoniotorres.pe
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artsonifystudio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/artsonify-studio
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/artsonifystudio

Image Credits

ArtSonify.com