Carlos Bunga

1. What made you choose art as a profession?
It was a very natural choice. It’s what I like doing and it’s my way of expressing myself in the world. 

2. How would you define your work?
I’d say it was a format by definition. Juxtapositions of ideas and thoughts. 

3. What subjects are you interested in?
Painting, sculpture, architecture, design, accidents, contradictions, utopias, philosophies and other mental possibilities. 

4. What resources – formal or otherwise – do you use in your work?
I use cardboard a lot, but I also use lots of other formal resources and others in my work. I like to pose questions. 

5. What relationship does your work have with reality? What are your raw materials?
Reality is part of life, and my work survives and develops by including stimuli from these relationships. We’ve also got the ability to create fictions and, through this ability, we can fashion other realities and ways of relating to the world. My body is my raw material. 

6. What, according to you, is the point of art?
Art is like life. It’s a need we have to be able to continue existing in the world. 

7. How do you hope the public will receive your work? What audience are you aiming at?
I hope the public can feel something for my work. The pieces are like mirrors that can awaken different emotional states and spark different reactions. I’m aiming at all different kinds of audiences. 

8. What qualifications have you got? What do you value most from your time in education?
I trained in painting. I really value the possibility of having been in a space that worked like a laboratory for experimentation. My education didn’t stop at school, though; it’s still very much alive. 

9. How would you define your current professional situation? And in the future?
My current professional situation is that I’m still training. In the future I hope to be able to continue working and surviving. 

10. Many artists say it’s difficult to make a living from their work; how do economic considerations affect you when it comes to work? Do you think this has a bearing on your work?
Economic considerations influence and shape my work. Often a lack of economic resources can drive a survival instinct and spark creativity. But it can also be a powerful motive for stopping work. It’s not easy to live off your work. It’s not only about artistic talent; there are other things that shape artists and their work. 

11. What do you look for or expect from your relationship with promoters and curators? What advantages and difficulties have you found with these relationships?
I hope promoters and curators can in some way spark interest in my work. Just as in any relationship, there are ups and downs. 

12. What do you think sets the arts scene in Madrid apart from elsewhere? What would you say are its pluses and minuses?
Madrid is a major city on the Spanish arts scene, but needs to work harder to play a bigger role on the international stage. I like the museums in the city, but there should be more support for young artists, more alternative art spaces and art residencies.