Although he was born in Saragossa, Carmelo Esteban He is considered from Soria since lives in Medinaceli since he was ten years old. Despite being dedicated to the hospitality industry, he has a passionthe sculptureto which he devotes all the time he can. He indicates that he is “autodidact” starting in earnest “about eight years ago.” He made his First exhibition at the Ducal Palace of Medinaceli in 2018. Its director, Miguel Tugores, points out that “the career I have is not very normal, since despite its short duration, I have held many exhibitions and received several awards.”
Among them, the last one a few days ago thanks to his work ‘The Quarter of Letters’ with which he has achieved the Luis Benedito Vives Sculpture Medal in the XI San Isidro Contest organized by the Spanish Association of Painters and Sculptors.
Esteban assures that In Medinaceli “I have been soaking up the essence of being, flowing my sculptural concerns… I discover the beauty of the figurative, of the abstract, in a complementary binomial. It seems to me that it is impossible to look at an abstract work without appreciating references of the representative worldjust as it is difficult to create a very figurative work and not appreciate the abstractions it contains. That is my determination, assume the existential binomial construction/destructioncreating metaphorical works, sober but binding.
This artist is dedicated to the hospitality industry since «living off art is difficult». In his self-taught path “I have learned to solder because I like it.” working with iron and steel and little by little I am evolving.” Regarding the materials, he says that he really likes steel but also used iron. And his communion with wood or with the concrete: «I like to combine the wood with other materials. Regarding his way of working, he points out: “With steel, for example, I have an idea, I prepare the sketches, I order the material and I translate it,” explains the sculptor. However, when working with used iron “the work is the other way around since that piece transmits something to me that I try to give shape to.” Within that evolution or transformation that he talks about, he points out that “now I paint the pieces since I didn’t do it before.”
Carmelo Esteban has ” two small workshops in which I work and I am saving the pieces. I will be over 60 although the truth is thatand I have sold many», he assures.
At this moment, “I am immersed in three projects different large sizes. One for the Valencia City Councilanother for a private collector and another about equality. All of them in steel and iron because the size of the orders requires it,” he explains without wanting to go into more details. Thus, little by little “I am adding projects.”
Carmelo Esteban does not speak of nocturnal muses. «I don’t have moments, I have time. When I have free time, it is the time and that is when I get to work although it is true that there are times when I am working and An idea comes to my head that I have to put on paper. Another time, while on vacation in Gandía, I brought some sand from the beach because I needed it for a work I had in hand… The truth is that an artist’s mind never stops. We are always in constant boiling.
In recent years “this passion for expressing my concerns and feelings through my works has led me to participate in international art fairs (Frankfurt, Milan, Austria, Cáceres, Luxembourg…)» and has already been awarded an honorable mention in the 60th San Isidro Plastic Arts Competition organized by the AEPE 2023, for example, among many other awards.
