Klaus Enrique - curiosity art

Klaus Enrique is a “curiosity artist”, born and raised in Mexico City. He studied genetics at the University of Nottingham and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. Early in his career, he was working as a freelance IT consultant, before he realized how big his passion for photography is, and pursued creative studies at Parsons and SVA to become a full-time artist– He is currently based in NYC.

Tell us a bit about you; the person behind the wonderful work

At the end of 2007, I was working on a photographic series in which different parts of the human anatomy were presented in the context of hundreds of different organic elements of the same kind. One photograph consisted of a human eye surrounded by thousands of dried leaves. By chance, one of the leaves happened to be aligned in such a way that it looked like the nose that belonged to that eye. In that moment I wrote in my notepad, “Make face with dried leaves”

Before I begin working on a new project, I always research the work that has been done on that subject by other artists. It didn’t take long before I came across the incredible work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Anthropomorphism, Pareidolia and the cognitive processes of face perception are as old as mankind itself, and something I take pride in continuing.

Post-Contemporary Still-Life

Klaus Enrique

What is the message you want to convey through your art?

My still-lifes are also portraits that are concerned with the human condition. The richness of the various organic materials and their synergistic combination allow the medium to convey a greater depth of emotion and understanding. At once figurative and abstract, these photographs access the perceptual center of one’s mind, exploiting the way we process what it means to be human and to have emotions.

Besides your computer/phone, what is the one thing you cannot work without?

My Pentax 645Z

Your work gets a lot of attention on social media, how does getting online recognition change the way you perceive and produce your art?

For me making art is not easy. There is a lot of doubt and a great deal of fear before I commence each piece. Some of my pieces are easy to live with, but quite a few are not, and it is nice when you find other people on social media that appreciate what you do; that gives me a great deal of encouragement.

Can you share with us 5 films that you LOVE

The Matrix, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, McQueen, The Lego Movie, and The Incredibles

Anything you would like to say to our Plastik audience?

If you have a dream, go for it. Start before you are ready, and if following your dream scares you, then do it scared. Fear is the enemy.

Interviewed by Philippe Ghabayen