Painter André Moya And His Muse, Mary

André Moya, 27, is from San Francisco, currently based in Seattle, WA. His work is mostly autobiographical, informed by people and things that make up his life, as well as interior spaces, everyday objects and nature. “A major figure is partner Mary whom I’ve painted and written about extensively in recent years. I like the idea of the muse as a starting point and recurring motif.”

Portrait of Mary

Self-Portrait

As a multidisciplinary artist, Moya identifies with those “driven by a sense of wonder and who are in tune with their inner selves”, he mentions Syd Barrett, Lucian Freud, George Condo, Don Van Vliet, David Hockney, Marc Bolan, and many other creative-types from the counter-culture era of the mid 60’s.

When asked about his artistic process, Andrés shares, “My work is the result of allowing myself to be surprised by the outcomes of my decisions and adapting to them in order to create dynamic compositions. It is an additive process. I consciously try to avoid repainting or covering up trouble areas; instead, I like to solve these problems by adding parts or allowing empty space to come into play, thus balancing out the composition.”

“Technically speaking I work from photographs, loose preliminary drawings and my imagination.” He continues, “I limit my pallet to 4-6 colors plus black and white. My rituals or routines include: wearing the same pants, denim coat and shoes, drinking coffee or some sort of alcoholic beverage (preferably beer) and listening to music.”

Moya prefers oil to execute his detailed portraits who mainly feature his muse, Mary. “Oil paint has a slow drying time and satin-like quality which lends itself to extensive mixing and tone blending. This comes in handy when painting skin and other multi-tonal surfaces. When working on pieces where blending is not important I use acrylic paint. The advantages of acrylic paint for my painting purposes, as mentioned above are, its quick drying time, high opacity and relative low toxicity level, this last one comes in handy when working indoors.”

As far as shows go, it’s a struggle for Andrés Moya to have enough pieces for a group exhibition because most of the time the work he’s most proud of sells quickly, way before he’s even had a chance to take it out of the studio. “There is the possibility for a show in Brooklyn next month, I’ll keep you guys updated.” •

Andremoya.com

Instagram: @andremoya_

Spotify: Andre Moya

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