Ulterior/Ulterior

Is Nicasio Andrade a graphic designer with an artist's vocation or rather an artist who masterfully navigates the design profession? This is a question he repeatedly asks himself and a confusing definition for those who work alongside him. Perhaps his actions in the world simply demonstrate that the contemporary transcends labels and that limitless possibilities mediate the creation of art.

Everything in Nicasio's work is about tension. There’s tension between his two disciplinary identities, constantly forcing him to question what he creates. There’s tension between the rational and the spontaneous, making each piece a blend of strict planning and a serendipitous accident. There’s tension between his compulsions and his interests, leading him to draw obsessively and instinctively while objectively investigating his potential references and influences. There’s tension in his bilingual day-to-day, making him switch from one language to the other based on not just practical but also expressive needs. It is through these tensions that the reflection giving rise to Ulterior/Ulterior emerges.

Ulterior, a word with similar meaning and spelling in Spanish and English, refers to something that occurs afterward or lies beyond. It is through the tension of opposing forces and pushing boundaries that the works showcased in this exhibition came to life. A relentless urge to draw results in countless pages of unintelligible writing. The design craft requires transforming what's manual and accidental to digital and orderly. The need to learn and discover drives him to try new media and experiment with textiles, from a present perspective that seems to glimpse at the enduring creation of the Wayuu, an indigenous people with a significant presence in the artist's hometown of Maracaibo). However, these works do not strictly adhere to these urges, deliberate actions, or material and ancestral explorations; Instead, they truly exist immediately beyond the destination— in that moment of silence that follows the outburst."

Thus, digital collages, drawings, and weavings intersect and overflow. Rather than contradictions, accidents harmoniously integrate and negotiate with deliberate planning. What originates from what is unclear, yet we can perceive the organic relationship among the pieces. They exist in a space that requires no translation. They are simply an ulterior response.

Susana Quintero-Borowiak

June 2024.