Loves leave traces on the skin, customs that are difficult to forget. Juliana Castro Varón wrote and drew a book in which she bears witness to the ways in which love and sentimental bonds have passed through her life. Published by Planeta, Sensitive Paper is a blog of emotional experiences and explorations in the fields of cinema, poetry, design, television.
When you open Sensitive Paper, the variety of materials in the book is obvious: autobiographical stories, drawings and fragments of texts by other authors. How did you come to this collage format?
“There’s a part of Sensitive Paper where I say that writing a book sounds big and difficult until you remember that, like everything else, it’s made up of little pieces. From the beginning it was a lot of pieces; a collage, as you call it. In the end, when almost all the texts were written, we put together the order on a wall like a book of poetry. My training in design greatly influences thinking of things (the book) as a composition. Assemble it in pieces and see where it is missing, where it is left over, where the empty space is good.
What are the risks and benefits of writing a story that works as a sentimental autobiography? Why get under the spotlight?
“Ugh. Most of my work before Sensitive Paper has been academic. This is the first time I’ve done something similar to a sentimental autobiography. Kitsiness is the biggest risk, I think. The advantage is that it is an honest book. Another is that people identify with the stories: confessing to a parent, seeing grandma lose her memory, falling in love, being moved by something beautiful. However, the point of the book is not to put me in the spotlight. Vulnerability may be the medium, but the goal is to tell those stories, whether they’re personal or historical or works of art or artists’ lives.”
–
And those stories are woven with fragments of art, literature, music… Can art illuminate people’s lives? What has been your experience?
“Art illuminates people’s lives, and here I want to be clear that I am referring to both popular music and television, as well as museum art, literature and architecture. In my experience, letting yourself be touched by the little things helps not only to enjoy them and life, but also to better understand our tastes and desires. Let’s say, the scene in which Ugly Betty doesn’t let her mount it and exercises her power, sing December’s songs as a group, read a transforming poem.
I like to think about what those things are that I love and obsess over; those songs, works or moments in which we do not stop thinking: what do they do to us, what do they question us, why do they move us”.
In her biography it is indicated that she has been a nomad: nine cities in four countries. How has this feature helped shape her view of life and her writing?
“Right now I’m moving again! It’s exhausting and I don’t want it to last forever. However, I suppose it gives me a certain lightness, a certain openness to change, to try other things (mix genres, get to know places, learn languages)”.
What are the literary projects you have in mind or on the work table?
“The most immediate plans I have are to translate Sensitive Paper into English and write something short about the relationship between storytelling and fake news on the internet. For a second book I have nothing in mind, but I think that books are cooked first in the unconscious. I hope to be at that stage.”
– –
