José Castro

Illusions

2016

Jose Castro was born in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1947. In 1961, when he was 14, Castro was sent to Miami to escape the Revolution. Later he was joined by his mother and sister in Miami, where he has lived ever since. In 1999, he returned to his native Cuba to visit for the first time since he left. The experience was emotionally transformational. It made him see how his early life there shaped who he is today. Also, as a result, that emotional catharsis allowed him to embrace his past and integrate it peacefully with his present identity. Castro graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. His professional career path took him from architecture to interior design in Miami where he practised in several prominent design firms and ultimately including his own. His fields of practice included commercial, residential, hospitality and cruise ships. Castro now devotes himself fulltime to his art. At present, his approach to painting can be described as experimental and exploratory; it is purely non-representational. In contrast to his more structured design practice, he enjoys the freedom of expression and lack of constraints that painting provides him. He likes to create images that are visually interesting and intriguing. Besides acrylic paint, Castro likes to use a variety of media such as grout, cardboard, packaging materials and other discarded materials to create his multi-layered works.