Quiet, melancholic reflection—this is how one might briefly describe the paintings of Enrich. R, whose canvases emerge less from the stroke of a brush than from layered paint, cracks, and traces of patina. Raised between the industrial architecture of Igualada and the open landscapes of the Catalan countryside, the artist developed a visual language shaped by the tension between solidity and expansiveness. For Enrich, painting is a way of constructing space: a canvas should create depth and openness, much like a window.
In our interview, Enrich reflects on the role of space and silence in painting, the importance of doubt and time in his practice, and the invisible forces that shape the material presence of his works.
hube: Growing up between the industrial architecture of Igualada and the open, breathing landscape of the Catalan countryside, how did this continuous dialogue between solidity and vastness shape the foundations of your visual language?
Enrich. R: Space has a lot to do with my painting. A painting must give breadth and depth to space, in the same way a window does.
I clearly remember going out into the countryside to paint landscapes, spending hours searching for a motif to interpret, which was usually a hill, a field, a cart path… Later, when I began working in the studio, I realized that the exercise was essentially the same, but instead of looking outward, I was searching with an inward gaze at reality.
h: In your practice, a layer is never simply a backdrop but a trace: a memory of a gesture, a decision, or an erasure. By what internal metric do you sense that a layer must be buried beneath new matter, and when do you feel compelled to let it persist as a fragile, visible truth?
ER: I try to remain very attentive while working, because sometimes a single gesture can radically change the perception of an image. Usually, I know when something is worth letting dry, but sometimes it takes many attempts to arrive at that gesture, color, or surface. These sessions accumulate one over another, transforming the canvas into a new surface. That’s why I believe every painting has its own secret, hiding a story within it.
