Turning The Digital Into Wearable Art

Argentinan painter-turned dressmaker Santiago Paredes takes us through his process, which mixes ‘Afro-Japanese’ styles with his own ‘spicy flavour’

- Santiago Paredes

THE BEGINNINGS  

Santiago Paredes

One day on my way to work, two old ladies caught my eye. I realised that these two grannies, probably born in the 1950s, were dressed as a perfectly matching pair, both wearing Chanel-like suits and a pastel colour palette, mixed with small details of Art Noveau textures. Red laces on green shoes and an artificial pink and yellow fur around their necks served as refreshing counterpoints.

It was then I realised the ingenuity and purity I was seeking in painting was fully expressed in fashion. In high school I grew up on punk, so I tended to disregard high fashion. Later I realised it's an immensely fertile field, where creativity and intuition work under a practical approach.

I started putting my digital paintings on silk. It may look like a simple silk scarf but it's not just an accessory - it's a work of art!

I really like the idea that a silk-printed painting doesn't have just one point of view. It can be twisted, get wet, hold something, give shelter. An artwork that can be felt physically. 

NECESSITY BECOMES FORM

After years painting, I simply couldn't afford it any more. I couldn't afford a proper studio, or storage for my paintings. Photoshop has solved this problem. I can work with the same ideas and have access to every colour there is, without spending any money. It's like being rich.

I'd been using Photoshop since it first came out, and I have done digital retouching for photographers, but I never thought of it as a legitimate form of expression. Up to that point, it was merely to sketch drafts. David Hockney's iPad artwork gave me the confidence to take this tool seriously. It doesn't have the texture or voluptuousness of traditional media, but it has its own expressive resources, and ones I could pursue at that time.