In 2011 I had the opportunity to travel to Lima, Peru, to participate in an artistic show with the collective "Equipo Plástico" which I am a member of, at the Lima’s Spanish Cultural Center. I was totally fascinated by this country and all its idiosyncrasies. A new dimension opened up in my mind: I could see a new world and a new way of understanding life. This trip marks a before and after in my artistic career, and even more so in my life.

It was impossible for me not to return and so I visited the country over the next few  years, living for a time between Lima and Barcelona. During these various trips, I had the opportunity  to discover many regions of the country and learn their culture. My desire to investigate more deeply and my fondness for the Ancient World and its mysteries allowed me to document and see right there, on the spot, the enormous amount of cultures and civilizations that existed throughout the country and the great legacy that they left behind. I visited many of the great Museums of Lima, Nazca, Cusco ... admiring an abundant amount of artwork in a variety of  materials: metal, textiles, and ceramics, some of them true works of art. I also visited archaeological sites and mythical places such as Machu Picchu, Pachacamac, Sacsayhuaman, Cahuachi, the Nasca Lines, Lake Titicaca and Tiahuanaco. In many of them I could feel that energy that I had read and heard so much about: in those places I imagined everything that had happened there, the stones spoke to me of a past that was lost in the mists of time.

All this had a huge impact on me and on my work. I started to create new series inspired by this new world, to investigate new materials and techniques, some as primitive as ceramics and textiles.

I created artwork for several exhibitions under this influence from the year 2011 to the present, in different countries, with the titles: “Nuevo Mundo” in Belgium, “Cosmovisión Andina” in Spain, “Futurismo Ancestral” In England, “Danza Ritual” en France and now this show, “Antes, Después, Ahora” that I am opening here in Peru. First in Cusco, in the Qorikancha Museum - Convent of Santo Domingo, and then in Lima’s Spanish Cultural Center.  

The present exhibition consists of a selection of pieces made in recent years; some have been displayed in different countries before, others were made here during my most recent stay in Peru. This sample consists of works of different artistic techniques, such as pictorial works on paper, looms, quipus (which I exhibited in London), new ceramics, installation and masks.

"Antes, Después, Ahora" tries to pay tribute to the pre-Columbian culture and aesthetics of Peru and the Andes, and to recognize the ancestral and primordial Andean and Mesoamerican cultures from a contemporary perspective while addressing different disciplines and techniques. My idea is to unite two worlds to create works that speak of tradition and the present-day and that have at their core, the union with the Cosmos. A way to ratify these ancient cultures, from respect and admiration.

Sixe Paredes