Born in 1996 in Chile, based in Hamburg, Germany.
"I want to be a scientist without knowing science, like an insect that mimics a
leaf."°
In his paintings and installations, Diego Lucas explores geological, meteorological and spatial phenomena which, although scientifically explainable, remain shrouded in mystery. Black holes, storms, gravity, evaporation... all these phenomena raise profoundly existential and vertiginous questions: about time passing by, about scales that vary to the point of becoming inefficient or unimaginable, about the magic but also the violence of ecosystemic interactions. Diego Lucas shares with the Romantics an obvious attraction to the sublime, a beauty both fascinating and terrifying, capable of defying the limits of our imagination.
Perhaps in order to anchor himself in an intelligible material reality, Diego Lucas chooses – while being constrained to it by his precariousness as an artist – to work with poor, recycled materials, laden with history or simply with the absurdity of their existence: blackboards, wood scraps, tape, tablecloths, silicone or expired expanding foam, plastic bottles, stolen flowers, gravel and found stones.
In Clermont-Ferrand, Diego Lucas naturally turns his attention to the volcanoes that dominate the city. Built from dark volcanic stone, the black city is inhabited by underground flows and upward thrusts, creating a permanent yet invisible friction. Through sculpture, rubbing, erosion, and dilation, Diego Lucas tries to draw parallels between the melancholy of humans and the one that emanates from the earth they live on.
°Diego Lucas, note of intent for the 100-day residency
Written by Isabelle Henrion.