How Rocks Move is an exhibition in which the artist has experimented with traces and tracing through paintings. Marking, showing, proving are notions that Hortal works with, emphasizing the relationship of these notions with the word “rastro” in Spanish. The artist’s interpretations are focused on conceptions of evolution, progress, and movement. Hortal’s point of departure is the seemingly impossible movements of rocks in the Death Valley in Nevada. The rocks move on the sand with what appears to be a propelling force from the outside; the traces of these movements are only visible for a short amount of time. The artist relates this phenomenon to the painter’s gestures and painting’s relationship with recording and time. If every painting is an expression of a journey, then the final painting is a record, a memory of that state.
