Self-Portrait with Spanish Cap c. 1938

Federico Castellón made this drawing, Self-Portrait with Spanish Cap, on paper, and it’s a real journey into the self. The way he's layered different scenes and figures is like flipping through someone's memory, or maybe a dream. Look at how he's handled the graphite – so controlled and precise in the portrait, giving a real sense of light and shadow on his face. But then, other areas are softer, more diffused. It's like he’s thinking through feeling, the landscape in the background is rendered smoothly, in comparison to the strange distortion and abstraction of the shoe in his hand. That shoe, cradled in his hands, is so weirdly formed; it reminds me of some of Philip Guston’s later paintings; the everyday objects become almost grotesque in their familiarity. It adds another layer to the image, a touch of the surreal. What does it mean? I don't know. I think that’s the point. It’s about feeling, not knowing.