(Oviedo, 1976)

Ernesto Junco began his studies at the Oviedo School of Arts and Crafts, where he obtained qualifications in screen printing and applied arts using stone. Seeking to broaden his conceptual horizons, he went on to study for a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Vigo. In 2017, he obtained the Higher Technical Diploma in Engraving and Printing Techniques, and supplemented his training with workshops in video art and performance art, disciplines that have expanded his creative language beyond traditional formats.

Throughout his career, Junco has explored disciplines such as painting, printmaking and contemporary sculpture, which occupy a central place in his body of work; however, in recent years he has focused much of his artistic output on ceramics, finding in it a new extension of his visual discourse. Nevertheless, beyond mere formal diversity, his work maintains a deep and organic connection with nature.

For the artist, the landscape—the environment—is not merely a backdrop, but an active presence that sets cognitive processes in motion and imbues his works with meaning. This essential link is fully aligned with his creative approach, in which the working process draws inspiration from the natural environment and the complex relationships that we humans weave with it and amongst ourselves.

When they were no longer used for educational purposes, the old schools in Sames – buildings dating from the 1920s – were refurbished. For the past three years, they have served as a retreat for the visual artist Ernesto Junco.

Without turning his back on nature, Junco has evolved since taking up residence in Sames, incorporating a certain degree of figuration into his work alongside the abstract.