With a serene aesthetics and painstaking treatment of the support, whether it be canvas or paper, Fernando Almela clearly endeavours to extol the tangible nature of things.

Many of his works are rendered in monochrome gradations and forms that straddle figuration and abstraction, in ways recalling the paintings by Mark Rothko (1903-1970). It is also possible to trace in his work a certain affinity with the still lifes by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). In addition, his fascination with Asian culture can be readily appreciated throughout his work.

Landscape and still life are in fact the mainstay of his work. In the latter he played with volumes and colour, leaving some objects blank, thus turning the void into a figure. As the artist himself declared: “in my paintings, the background becomes a figure, not only physically (the unpainted primed canvas) but also visually. Unpainted blank spaces are the figures in the painting, whereas what has been intervened, what has physical matter, paint, is the visual background of my works”.

Almela engaged with an ongoing reflection on the optical power of the elements he depicted, as we see in this particular still life. The composition is symmetrical and simple: a white vase in the centre of the canvas stands out against a background of loose brushstrokes in cold blue and purple tones. On either side are some round objects (pieces of fruit?) on the table. By applying light orange, green and yellow touches, Almela seems to be playing with colour.