Meritxell Duran (Barcelona, 1964) says she draws and sculpts because it is what she knows how to do. Sculpture and drawing are her tools of communication. The two-dimensional part of her work allows her to give shape to an idea, grasp it and bring it to fruition, while her approach to sculpture involves a more introspective process where the work evolves, unfolds without a premeditated goal and has a more ethereal and undefined result. If she had to choose, Duran would opt for sculpture. With drawing, she does it, whereas sculpture does itself. In this sense, her discourse drifts away from the elaborate theories that many contemporary artists use in their work. According to her, ‘these artists have lofty ideals but don't work from the soul.’

Every one of Duran’s creations oozes with her emotional state. ‘The way I live is the way I work.’ It is important to note that between her sad and tormented work of the nineties and the beginning of the new century on one side, and on the other her more subtle and ironic present day work there was a ‘therapeutic’ parenthesis which lasted five years during which she put aside all artistic activity in order to give herself space to breathe and to refresh her way of looking at the world. The reason she did this is because for Meritxell Duran evolution is essential. In the realm of art, it is not about settling for something that works and exploiting it until it wears out. Her personal evolution is reflected in the final result of her work and also in the motivation with which she handles the creative act. If in the past it was primarily a way of seeking refuge and a form of escapism, nowadays it provides her with maximum gratification.

The artist’s voluntary five year withdrawal included a year in China which greatly influenced her professional and personal path. She went alone and was at ease because she knew how to live in solitude, she wanted it and looked for it and it was in this country where she found the isolation and the non-communication that she needed in order to retrieve an important and necessary balance. The artist thinks that human beings today do not know how to be alone despite the fact that they are so. It is in solitude where individuals must learn to know themselves, to understand their huge potential and to know how to take risks. Duran likes taking risks, because without a slight gamble, there is no evolution.  

This is exactly why her artistic return takes its form in a collection of sculptures which come from who knows what universe to accompany contemporary man in its solitude. With Criatures de companyia (Iguapop, 2008), she presents a limited series of only 7 creations of likeable creatures with hybrid appearance varying between toy, pet and sculpture. These beings are impeccably executed, aseptic and pure whilst maintaining a hidden mystery. At a closer look, the tenderness and innocence the characters radiate from a distance dissolve into an uneasiness – emphasised with slogans such as ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here’ and ‘Don't leave me, I would never do it’ – that can't leave anybody indifferent. The painted, faceless figures which are placed in between contribute to the spectator's terrible state of anxiety.

Duran confesses that the energy required to carry out a new project like this one can only be generated a long way away from her hometown and usual work scene. Her new concepts are born abroad, whether in China or New York where she frequently travels, and it is in Barcelona where she physically works on them. She admits that present day commercially orientated Barcelona makes her creative development difficult and that it is no longer feasible for her energetically. ‘The biggest marketplace in the world’ – slogan used by the local government in Barcelona – is miles away from her world.