La ciudad dorada No. 1

Before I knew what I was going to paint, I knew two things: it had to speak about Colombia, and it had to be neutral. It was my first real commission, and inside that freedom I found an obsession I was already carrying: the legend of El Dorado. I didn’t want to paint the legend — I wanted to paint the feeling of chasing it. "La ciudad dorada No. 1" is that thick, gray, almost dreamlike fog where the eye takes a moment to adjust. And there, in the background, more by chance than by certainty, something shines: swaying buildings, a gold that appears and might not be there at all. The gold leaf over gesso doesn’t illustrate the treasure — it lets it barely surface, the way any legend surfaces: halfway, and only for those who stay looking.