The Mystical World of Oriol Jolonch
Using digital tools Barcelona´s Oriol Jolonch is pushing the limits of photography to reshape how we frame the world. Exploring the mysticism of both objects and nature, his ability to strategically and subtly place people and animals in imagined landscapes offers us a commentary on our reality, while taking us to a place where we can escape and ponder.
If one theme reigns throughout many of his series, it is the mystery of nature. Man is a solitary animal within the world’s he conjures. His photography critiques man’s ability to create and destroy, even in an invented world.
The Bull in the China Shop
“La Cacharreria” portrays an elephant entering a china shop. In Spanish the age old expression, ‘like a bull in a china shop’ is “como un elefante en una cacharrería.” In this photo an elephant stomps into the shop and drags at the edges of the photo revealing concrete below. It destroys our delicately constructed reality; commenting at once on the fragile nature of the world we create, as well as the creator’s ability to fashion our reality:
When man is present in Oriol’s inceptions, they appear as solitary creatures who seem to be helpless yet aware of the influence they have over their locations. As a result these men never seem to feel quite at home, often depicted as missing a piece of themselves or alone in stark scenery.
Oriol Jolonch: Man as the Artist
One might ask if the images that show a lone man is the artist inserting himself into the photographs. A way of escaping into his own creations – equal parts creator and observer of these fictions. However, his other collection Naipes suggests that the creative process may be outside one’s control. Maybe what manifests in life and the imagination is at random – wild cards or microcosms that allow for the explosion of life.
His otherworldly art prompted us to ask him what planet he’d be from if he wasn’t born on earth. Oriol responded, “Mars, because I often feel like a Martian.” We are lucky he’s come to join us on for a little while, and that the advancement of digital photography has allowed us to explore these martian worlds with him. Take a moment outside your own head and enter his. His talent is clear, and this year it won him first prize in contemporary photography from the Fundació Vila Casa as well as a place in our hearts.
You can see his prize winning collection ‘Invented Realities’ at the Fundació Vila Casa in Barcelona until December 20th.