Déjà Vu

Artwork Info

• Year: 2014
• Medium: Photo Manipulation, Digital painting, 3D.
• Style: Modern Surrealism Digital Art.
• Size:  40×53 inches (100×135 cms).
• Collaboration with Victor Murillo.

Originally intended as a technique exercise to break boundaries regarding the usage of light and color palettes, this highly experimental illustration had me trying a more modern, direct and clean style but still keeping my usage of bold colors and centered compositions. For that matter, I asked long-time collaborator Victor Murillo, who is more experienced in cutting-edge clean design trends, to intervene in the process of the artwork, to give it a twist and turn it back to me to apply the final steps of post-production.

Artist’s statement

déjà vu  /deɪˌʒɑːˈvuː/, noun

1. the feeling that you have already experienced something that is actually happening for the first time
   I entered the room and immediately felt a sense of déjà vu.

Inspired by how Björk’s most experimental music would look like in a visual environment, I chose a model with an edgy and modern but inpractical haircut, just aesthetic for the sake of being aesthetic. I used its dark tones to overlay a sunset above that would make the viewer perceive the face of the woman as something unnatural, one-eyed, and closer to the idea of some kind of cyborg despite not having any machinery around. That also serves as a metaphor of having “an eye on the brain that sees all”, commonly known as “intuition”.

A modern exquisite corpse

I used the contrast of passionate reds for the figure alongside the darks of the top of her head against a pale, calming blue, creating a huge contrast dynamic which I find it to be as a signature of my style. Victor Murillo took care of a lot of detailing, color splashes and abstract shapes that deformates the body and makes it look like is desintegrating or going through some kind of interference. We saw it as if the visions of the déjà vu are electric currents shaking the body and turning the experience into bold colors and shapes, but in a harmonic and estructured way, just as I think Björk would do.

In the end, this modern surrealism digital art piece is more sensorial than conceptual, and can lighten up and add some shock value to any room it is present in, by mixing editorial photography aesthetics with modern abstract art and an iconic splash of color that makes its composition stand out in any environment. Maybe that’s why Adobe chose this artwork as a part of the “Dream On” spot for its 25th Annyversary campaign, directed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners. This project led the studio to win three Cannes Lios, a Pencil AD&D and an Emmy Nomination. You can read more about this milestone here.