Jorge Mayet, Now If We Can Paddle, Oil on Canvas, 150 x 200 cm, 2014
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1962, he graduated with a BFA in Landscape from the National Institute of Fine Arts of St Alexandria in 1993 and an MFA from the National Institute of Fine Arts of St Alexandria in 1995. In the mid-1990s, this Cuban artist eventually migrated to Spain. Influenced by his migratory experience, the tone of Jorge Mayet's work is often one of dislocation and displacement. The uprooted tree, with pieces of soil still clinging to its exposed roots, is suspended in the void, and we can sense a certain homesickness in his images.
Jorge Mayet was nostalgic for the time when culture and religion had not yet become social and political puppets. Therefore, he longed for the old uncivilised villages that honoured the power of nature. This admiration for culture, religion and nature is fully expressed in his works, as he says, "I use different materials such as wires and paper to reproduce the scenes of my hometown in my memory, which are also part of my culture and symbols of my roots, my hometown." Jorge Mayet's images of his hometown are presented in miniature landscape restoration installations, which reveal his attachment to the natural beauty of his hometown for a moment.
Jorge Mayet's works have been collected by many important art institutions in Spain, Dubai, Belgium, New York and France.