Presently Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit are home to a huge number of sensible artists whose feelings are portrayed in various formats and techniques, in real masterworks that reach prestigious acceptance. Among this great diversity of artistic expressions displayed in our destination, I found a distinct work created by Luis Fernando Arana, a self-taught artist from Guadalajara, Jalisco. Although he established in Vallarta a short time ago, being still an unknown artist in this zone; his work is so peculiar that it lured me into searching for him for an interview, to get his opinion on what he thinks he can provide to a port that apparently has it all, as far as art is concerned.
Jesús: Luis Fernando Arana, in a space full of works of art, what is it in your art that makes a difference?
Luis Fernando: Well, that is an interesting question. First I must say that I consider myself a self-taught artist and that growing beyond academics I have a great creative freedom at my disposal that I use in elements as well as materials and in the development of forms and themes.
If we are talking about what I can offer that is distinct facing the world of fine and professional artists with great records that exist in Vallarta, I can only say that my work is quite experimental, be it on canvases or by using uncommon supporting ingredients, as is the case now with stone.
Thanks to my relationship with Rebeca Santiago, my wife, who has been working on natural stones in various construction projects for about twenty years, I have been able to come in close contact with marble, and experiment with it, and begin to explore, to invade the stone – to say it somehow – has allowed me to arrive at achievements I could not have imagined before, with the widest potential of applications.
Jesús: Luis… Why did you decide to become a visual artist?
Luis Fernando:Practically as far as I can remember I have intensely lived and experienced the pleasure of artistic creation. I experience a special joy when I can add to an object or material a plus or an aesthetic value. Life has allowed me to develop this through time, in the visual arts as well as in the field of communication; I majored in communication studies and evolved for over thirty years within the audiovisual world. During that time I was able to produce a great deal of video-documentaries and a great diversity of learning games and materials, trying to give something to groups and communities searching for better forms of living within and without our country. All this work has also been a creative challenge, from the conception of the idea and the making of the screenplay to the production itself. This has also given me great satisfaction. In 1992 for instance, me and my working team obtained the Premio Nacional de Periodismo Cultural (National Cultural Press Prize) “Fernando Benitez” in the field of video, for the documentary “Santo Domingo, 500 years later” in the Feria Internacional del Libro (International Book Fair) in Guadalajara.
I feel that I have been given the chance to express my God’s granted talents… I am a person like any other with a creative spirit, who for some reasons has tried and succeeded developing it. I have certainly decided during the past five years to concentrate my work emphasizing artistic creation and that has become my daily duty, filling me with enthusiasm.
Jesús: What is Vallarta to you?
Luis Fernando:It has been an enriching experience since we established here in 2004. Vallarta is the art’s Petri dish that favors artistic production. Today Vallarta offers me a great livelihood opportunity and maybe a space in art as well as in communication. God has led me in this direction and I am here yearning to provide to this Diaspora, to this beautiful international destination – with all its contradictions – still offering great development opportunities.
Vallarta is a world-class showroom offering the possibility of transcending artistically. Since the exhibit we held in Lisbon in 2007 through the invitation of our country’s embassy in Portugal, I watched and learned that my work as well as that of Rebeca can be accepted and appreciated in other corners of the world. Vallarta, given its characteristics, can be a great launching pad.
Jesús: Specifically… What are you presently working on?
Luis Fernando:Never having abandoned mixed-techniques painting, I am spending more time on marble; it offers more or less the same challenges as painting on canvas or paper. Though the marble challenge is somewhat similar, stone as support brings on different implications, making it a very exciting task.
I feel that what I am creating has genuine possibilities of being applied to architectural projects, this goes beyond the boundaries of interior and exterior décor as we originally thought of it. In recent projects I have created elements going from the very classic, antique-looking; to contemporary and abstract pieces on marble plates of different sizes, giving birth to original works that may be placed on walls as paintings, or used as tabletops, kitchen backsplashes, doormats, portals, friezes and more unforeseen projects in this region that now can be seen in our facilities at Arte+Proyecto+Piedra, S.A de C.V. where I keep my workshop.
Jesús: What is it like, then, to work on stone?
Luis Fernando: It is exactly the same process as when I am about to create a painting: I face the space that I consider a blank page, though marble in itself offers various elements un natural form that I must take into account in my designs. I experience a series of emotions when I face a challenging rock. My idea, or that of my client, makes me break into the natural design of the stone; my work consists precisely in making the best of what is natural, and enhancing it as the main element making my work distinct. It is an intense challenge.
Most people that have seen my work like it very much, reacting positively. Although some people are more inclined to the classical and traditional stuff, I like to explore freer, more abstract forms, awaiting an unthinkable result, something I call “playing with the chances of random and will”. It is a lot like a ceramics craftsman who must work on various elements during the process and be surprised at what fire will make of them when they come out of the furnace. In the technique I am developing one fundamental element is acid; I cannot know beforehand what the exact effect acids will have on the stone. Sometimes the chemical reaction generates unpredictable textures, that is precisely what I call “the chance of random and will” that I am playing with daily.
Luis Fernando: Vallarta has offered me a space for reflection and meditation, allowing me to put my prior life in the balance and question more profoundly the sense and purpose of my real calling. I believe the experience of new relationships with new friends and especially the analysis Rebeca has granted me these past years, have opened new windows to my perception of the world that had been shut during other phases, especially referring to the spiritual dimension of existence: wondering further, knowing more; searching for better and wider answers to the mysteries surrounding us and trying to respond accordingly. Hence, regarding marble projects I am involved in, I believe I have a lot to explore and create, this is only the beginning…
Jesús: Could we say that God found Luis Fernando in Vallarta?
Luis: Well, I believe I have always been found by Him, though here in Vallarta He has whispered closer to my ear. I believe God is inlaid deep within all of His creation and much more so in human beings made in His image. We are not apart or without Him, this is something I have been discovering in the Buena Nueva.
The work of Luis Fernando Arana in marble is unique in the region, its expression attracts the eyes first, through which it penetrates the observer, generating and intense desire to touch and experience the feel that textures and temperature nurture into the spectator.
Luis Fernando Arana’s works are more than artistic expression; I believe they are an extension of what an ordinary being experiences while creating. The distance between Luis Fernando’s marble pieces and the observer trying to understand it, simply dissipates.
To learn more and admire the work of Luis Fernando Arana, please visit his workshop at: 5290-B Ave. Francisco Medina Ascencio, Colonia Guadalupe Victoria, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. 48317. Phones: 290-1687 & 290-2422 / Cell. : 333 559-0013. E-mail: luisferana8@hotmail.com Email to a friend.
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Luis Fernando: Well, that is an interesting question. First I must say that I consider myself a self-taught artist and that growing beyond academics I have a great creative freedom at my disposal that I use in elements as well as materials and in the development of forms and themes. 
Luis Fernando: It has been an enriching experience since we established here in 2004. 
Luis Fernando: 