Fernando Alday

“From an early age, I was known as the ‘searcher’. I was attracted to the spiritual side of life, its abstract qualities. My father, a dentist and antique dealer, had a collection of manuscripts, including work by the accursed poet Arthur Rimbaud, which had a profound and lasting influence on me. At five years of age I became interested in calligraphy. Fascinated by sepia ink, I started my small collection. I grew up surrounded by books and liked to sit in front of the shelf arranging them by colour. Brushing off the dust, I would spend hours absorbed in their texture and content. The history of art is an influential source of inspiration for my work.”