Paul Cupido’s way of working is based on the desire to let go, using his camera as an extension of his senses, capturing special moments that reflect the magic of his experience. In Japanese “Haiku”, to focus on the moment not just sharpens our intuition but it also could lead to sudden enlightenment. Since an early stage in his career, Cupido is fascinated by Japanese culture and philosophy, which he adapts in a free way to his artistic language. His works do not only refer to the visible but focus on feeling and experience, as in his most recent series created during his stay as an artist-in-residence in the Photo Festival “InCadaqués” in Catalonia, which is still ongoing.
The new series “Swoon” is shown at Unseen for the first time. “Swoon” is used to describe a very strong emotion in love, a feeling of ecstasy or even unconsciousness. In collaboration with the Russian-born photo artist Anna Muller, Cupido started to explore the phenomenon in his typical intuitive way.
During his stay in Cadaqués and Port Lligat, he felt that the spirits of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) and Gala Dalí (1894-1982) are still present. Gala, self an artist, was not just the wife of the prominent Surrealist, she also was his muse. Their love and work story formed the source of inspiration for Cupido. Interested in the alliance of male and female potency to release new energies, Cupido came up with color-in-tense works to visualize the power and to express the connection between humans and nature and the forces of nature. In his notion this inseparable connection could perhaps lead to “Satori” or a sudden flash of insight into the essence of all.
