A symbol of beauty.
The artist centres attention on the human figure, especially the female as a symbol of beauty, reflecting precise states of mind and unique moments of introspection. The figure is also shown free of context. Domènech usually depicts her in a meditative state, with eyes closed or downward looking, naked or almost naked, aware of her charm but innocent and chaste. Technically speaking, the figure is absorbed in an almost unreal atmosphere, in a dream world, so to speak, as though emerging from a winter fog or an wave of sea spray. She is the contemporary Venus, escaping temporal limitations in order to be transformed into a synthesis of femininity – an eternal value, a homage that Domènech offers to woman. The deep and earthy tonalities invade and illuminate the imagination, fraught with this materiality on which light confers form.
When treating the topic of still life, Domènech captures each one of the objects with an interested independence; the artist wants to insinuate that this particular bowl or cup are objects with an inherent personality, a personal legacy and an unambiguous presence of character that is derived from the absence of its owner. The objects, now inanimate, call attention to themselves on account of their hierarchical position, or of the impact that the light and shade exalt or conceal. Also decisive is the base on which they rest, and where they display those inert elements, which are nevertheless full of interest for the artist, comfortable elements that we sense more than we see; white marbles resting on the shelves of bedside tables, ancient furniture that tells us of the passage of time and of the art of their creator.
The work of Domènech starts from an extraordinary technique, a practical method discovered by the artist himself and which he uses to express universal themes such as spiritual peace, the humility of materials, the beauty of the human body. Whether depicting a human body, a landscape or a still life he achieves his aims.
Domènech gives concrete form to the invisible: the feeling of nostalgia, the quiet sense of interior peace, and the lovers’ moment of happiness. From the starting point when he treats his canvas, he undoes and he eliminates; he removes, and he imagines what the markings suggest to him, just as Leonardo demanded. We see before us an artist with his own technique. His paintings appear shadowy at the edges, and become lighter, using tones of brown and ochre, towards the clearly defined subject – a face, a body, a tree, or a porcelain vase, a delicate piece which contrasts in its precision with the indistinct background from which it emerges. The subject is apparently the same in colour and composition, but it differs significantly in the conception of Domènech’s creative purpose. Domènech is an artist who uses minimalist effects, and who seeks emotional warmth in everyday objects; an artist who catches the exact moment in which material acquires feeling.
Isidre Roset I Juan