Mythical Storytelling...The Practice of Carlos Mendoza
London- based fashion photographer Carlos Mendoza brings international character to his work, strongly influenced by the classical vestiges that surrounded him in Rome during his formative years, which shines through his meticulously staged photographs. Following his latest exhibition at the Albemarle Gallery, Mendoza gave After Nyne an insight into his craft.
Can you give After Nyne a brief look into your history as an artist, and how this has, in turn, affected your craft?
I started with painting, especially oil on canvas, but I've always liked the stories that were behind the individual images, focusing on the story and not to the technique. Even now, with photography, this is the working method: I draw and make sketches of details, taking care of the poses and light. The hardest part is the realisation of the various props that I draw. Some are really complex and large. It is not just a picture, but also craft work. If it can be defined.
Could you outline your main artistic influences and how these feed into your work?
There is not a main source of influence. I prefer to follow the great themes of art. Although, the spirit of the work is dreamlike. The creation of suspended atmospheres, nonexistent worlds, characters, cities and situations, coming out of the rational, and immerse themselves in the dream, fascinate me.
Can you talk through your work for the Albemarle exhibition, what were the pieces trying to achieve and what inspired the work?
There are 20 different images, which tell different stories, which differ with another. Such as, "The Ballad of the Demiurge, Golden Glare, and the Forgotten Chord", in which we note the particular symbolism, which refers to the Pythagorean-Platonic school, and the figure of the Demiurge, here depicted as an anthropomorphic musical instrument, that through music emanating from the strings, merge itself with the Wisdom (Sophia, embodied by the naked figure of the model). Giving life to the origin of the Universe. In addition, other scenic elements and details add meaning to the narrative.
Or, if you examine "La jeune Romance enchainé", there is an exaltation of the art of poetry, through the majestic female figure, blindfolded, blind as the great poet Homer,”Vate” of the classical literature. Moreover, she’s sightless just like the man, who is inspired by the Muses.
Or, “The Myth of the Human Era”, in which there are hidden scenic details, which tell the birth and the future of humanity, according to the two figures in the foreground. To give the right sign and interpretation, I take advantage of the collaboration of art historian, and expert of iconography and iconology, Martina Cammerata. Indeed, the iconography is essential to be able to read the image. It take inspiration from the great masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, for example, the paintings by Titian, Botticelli, Giorgione, etc.
How do you see your work developing in the next few years, is there a particular direction your craft is going to take?
Day by day I draw and prepare the future pictures, therefore there is not a fixed direction. They are shaped by various preparatory sketches. Each image has its own genesis and its own purpose, and all differ from each other. They are a snap-shot of a long story.
How would you sum up the main themes involved in your work?
The photos are allegories, stories, poems and legends. It is a single image of a fairy tale. But in order to correctly interpret, you must have the right key, which, for most of the cases, it is given by the title. It, joined by props, and the hidden symbols, give life to the narrative, just as in the paintings of the Renaissance.
In these 20 photos, we can found some allegories about the creation of our universe, and the genesis of the human race, but fairy tales and alchemical references, too. Every picture is linked with another, because they all have the same location, Oeuftlanburg. This city comes from my own imagination, and the word is made up of three different words: “Oeuf”, that means “Egg” in French (and the egg is an essential element in all the composition, because it’s an image of purity and perfection); “Tlan” is the Aztec way to say “City”, and it reminds to my Mexican origins; and, finally, “Burg”, the German way to indicate a place, built near a business route.
Another element, that link these pictures, is the use of musical instruments, in particular with string, because they reminds to the philosophic school of Italian Renaissance, that connect the music with the idea of corresponded love, that is pure, and not sexual.
