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Joan Punyet Miró arrives in Manila with his solo exhibition, Punyet: L&rsquo;Azur &mdash; A Homage to Mallarmé, a series born of sea, sun, and subconscious drift. Bearing the Miró name not only reinforces his grandfather&rsquo;s legacy &mdash; it also defines a singular way of life, nurtured by color, dreams, and spirituality. 
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Joan Punyet Mir&oacute;, heir of modernism's most poetic legacy, walks into Le&oacute;n Gallery International all suited up. But the moment he talks, the background fades, and suddenly the air feels sunlit &mdash; less gallery, more shoreline. He was just in El Nido, Palawan, a place he instantly clocks with affection and familiarity. &ldquo;Palawan is home. I&rsquo;m an island boy. I was born in Mallorca. Palawan brought my childhood back to the surface because I dove five times a day, swam with sharks, jellyfish, and sea turtles. I also discovered the reefs and lagoons with the kayaks,&rdquo; he says.
 Alongside friends from Madrid and the Philippines, he brought to life Punyet: L&rsquo;Azur &mdash; A Homage to Mallarm&eacute; &mdash; a year in the making, calibrated to the millimeter. What emerged from this transcontinental exchange is an evocative exploration of environmental consciousness. Walls of blue, brushed with light and shadow, give shape to the subconscious.
 It witnesses Joan Punyet Mir&oacute;&rsquo;s fluency with dreams, a language he uses not only to safeguard his grandfather&rsquo;s estates in Mallorca and Barcelona, but also the artistic realms he&rsquo;s building through painting, sculpture, ceramics, poetry, and music.
 &ldquo;How do you balance everything?&rdquo;&nbsp;
 I ask. &ldquo;The whole thing is about the spirit. The alliance. It&rsquo;s about trying to find a balance between your spirit, the void, and the emptiness. Follow the voice of your intuition. Envision your dreams and make them physical.&rdquo;

Photographed by Maria Khan

Could you tell us about your newest project in the Philippines &mdash; Punyet: L&rsquo;Azur &mdash; A Homage to Mallarm&eacute;? When I began reading his poem many years ago, suddenly blue became the color of my dreams. I remember going to bed reading it, and it would trigger a chain reaction in my subconscious mind while asleep. I became obsessed with the idea of creating my blue to unify Mallarm&eacute; with the physical reality of my consciousness. This color represents peacefulness and joie de vivre. I wanted to create the beautiful sensation of optimism and hope while looking at my blue paintings. Then, when the opportunity to have my first solo show in the Philippines appeared, I decided to create 10 different blues in Mallorca, with different textures underneath every color. I shipped all the colors to Manila, with different materials and brushes to make 10 paintings.
 What drew you to the work of Mallarm&eacute;? I love poetry. I couldn&rsquo;t live without poetry. Poetry is my life, my religion. Mallarm&eacute; brought the void and the concept of the void. That means that there is one space between life and death called the purgatory. Between life and death, you stay in purgatory until you go to heaven or you go to hell. You go to life or you go to death. Mallarm&eacute; showed me this space, showed me the energy of the purgatorio, the space between the void and the emptiness. I want to bring all these blues because the physicality of the plaster, plus the ink on the white plaster, brings the void, the emptiness, the spiritual. Today I went to see Amorsolo&rsquo;s works at the Ayala Museum. I saw the oranges and reds, the academic way to render Filipino lifestyles. This is absolutely the opposite. It has nothing to do with Amorsolo. Absolutely nothing. This is about experience. This is about dreams. This is about subconscious minds.
 How important is color to your creative process? Colors are the pillar of all my abstract paintings. In my creative process, I try to create color fields that will inspire the spectators in their everyday lives. This is why I'm obsessed with creating my own blue, red, yellow, black, and white. As you will see while looking at my paintings, all the textures are applied with my fingers, creating a vibrant transfusion of life force. This is why every one of them has a part of my heart.
 How does the islandness of the Balearics compare to the Philippines? For me, there is a love for our identity and a tremendous attachment to Mother Nature in every way. I feel at home in Manila. I feel at home in the Philippines. Many Filipinos are living in the Balearic Islands as well. We are warmhearted people who feel the power of our beautiful beaches and beautiful blue sky.

Photographed by Adrian Ardiente

Echoes of Nature emphasizes the subtle interplay of light and shadow on textured surfaces. What interests you about the delicate balance between humanity and the natural world?&nbsp; Humanity has to embrace the natural world. We need to reinforce our connection with Mother Nature. Otherwise, our planet will be destroyed, and we will leave a horrible legacy for future generations. The Manila Series, in a modest way, is the nutshell of this reconnection with the oceans, with the skies, and the mighty powers of the universe.
 What experiences have drawn you to explore the face of modern disconnection and the current environmental crisis? I have seen the effects of global warming and natural catastrophes happening in Mallorca and all over Spain. We are having rain bombs with terrible consequences. People are being killed. Houses and businesses are destroyed. Natural disasters happen more often than before, and the consequences are affecting our major economic businesses: Tourism.
 What is it like to bear the name of your grandfather? Being Joan Mir&oacute;&rsquo;s grandson is a tremendous privilege. I have to take care of his international legacy and explain to everyone how extraordinary he was. We are similar in the aspect of looking after the possibility of making our dreams come true. We like to dream about the power of the arts and how they can change people&rsquo;s lives for the better. My grandfather and I shared a passion for the energy that connects us to the universe, and seeing art as a way to transform our world.

Your grandfather once said he wanted to &ldquo;assassinate painting.&rdquo; How do you interpret that now, as someone who lives with his legacy daily? Assassinate painting, for my grandfather, meant running away from Academia. He wanted to explore the world of dreams. During the Manifesto of Surrealism, poetry and automatic writing opened the gate to deep introspection and gave them access to set foot in the world of the unknown. He wanted to follow his intuition and become a groundbreaking pioneer. His knowledge of French poetry and music opened his eyes to the world of imagination and automatic painting. This is why Andr&eacute; Breton considered him the most surreal of all painters.
 Describe your relationship with Joan Mir&oacute;. Very spiritual. My grandfather was very spiritual. We were born into Christianity. My grandfather detached from it and became very much into the poetic. He saw Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Christians as different rivers that die in the sea, so for him, the sea was the universe. Many religions are drawn to political forces to control people&rsquo;s will, and Mir&oacute; was trying to run away from that.
 What&rsquo;s the greatest lesson about life and art that you learned from him? Follow your dreams. Listen to your inner voice and follow your intuition. Never give up on yourself, and understand how powerful you can become by being authentic, regardless of other people&rsquo;s perceptions.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">The major message is to be able to listen to the voices of your dreams. They will show you where to go.</h3>

How do you tap into your intuition? My biggest learning is to understand the powers you have when you dream, to understand the messages sent by your ancestors when you are asleep. All the people before you live within you, and they will speak to you at night. The major message is to be able to listen to the voices of your dreams. They will show you where to go.
 How has your understanding of his work evolved as you&rsquo;ve aged, from childhood to guardian of his archive? The understanding of his work has grown to a level of confidence that makes me believe that his work will continue to inspire many generations to come. It is so lyrical, joyful, so colorful, so poetic that it connects with the innocent eye of children immediately. There&rsquo;s a universal force that makes everyone love his work. I have been in Joan Mir&oacute;&rsquo;s exhibitions all over the world, and everyone feels extraordinary comfort and joy in his work.
 You are deeply rooted in Catalonia but globally resonant. How do you see your Catalan identity informing the universality of your work? I feel rooted to my European, my Spanish, my Catalonian, my Balearic, and my global culture at once. Spain is a great country where people are happy and enjoy life to the fullest. Having my grandfather born in Barcelona and myself in Mallorca makes me feel alive when I am in the Mediterranean Sea. Picasso was born in Malaga, Dal&iacute; in Figueres, and Spain embraces all at once under the sun. Our gastronomical history, our blue waters, and blue skies represent la alegr&iacute;a de vivir or joie de vivre, the happiness of the Spanish people all together. I believe that the universality of my work represents Spanish culture to the fullest extent, with the richness of our food, paintings, music, poetry, and literature, all under the blue colors of my paintings.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Having my grandfather born in Barcelona and myself in Mallorca makes me feel alive when I am in the Mediterranean Sea. Picasso was born in Malaga, Dal&iacute; in Figueres, and Spain embraces all at once under the sun.</h3>

The Joy of Blues: Joan Punyet Miró on Salt, Spirit, and Surrealism

The Joy of Blues: Joan Punyet Miró on Salt, Spirit, and Surrealism

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