Homenaje a Eduardo Chillida

"As far as I know, it has always been one of my concerns to produce things that are closely related to the space they populate, things which - notwithstanding their emphatic presence - render space visible instead of choking it.

By emphatically present I mean that the plastic formulation has to be as exact as possible i.e. a pure description of form and space. By rendering space visible I mean engaging in a dialogue with it, between space and form, seeing that the one can only exist through the other. Between the shapes and the empty space, between the wood and the air there exists a link which is hard to express in words, but which is immediately observable to the eye and the senses.

Never before have I experienced this link so strongly as the time when I was physically confronted with the work of the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillada for the very first time (Europalia Spain, PSK Brussels, 1985). The works of Chillida have also been structured and composed in such a manner chat their appearance renders space visible.

A thorough analysis of Chillida's work and attentive reading of his texts in numerous monographs and catalogues, if not causing a complete change in my approach, have at least led me to a more conscious working and thinking method. I have learned to listen better to my own self and I have become less disturbed by a society which slowly but surely is bearing more and more resemblance to a hamburger dive: I categorically refused to become one of those banal sausages who today increasingly run the show.

I have become aware of what is acceptable to my mind.

I am unaware of which path to follow but thanks to the insights I have gained and a consolidated self-confidence, I do know where I am heading, the path to follow is very tangibly present and I feel it immediately as soon as I threaten to deviate from it.

With my table Homenaje a Eduardo Chillida I have consciously tried to give form to the maturing process described above."