By Steven Psyllos

Ernesto Caivano

Born in Madrid, lived in Washington, DC, Buenos Aires, Ohio and San Diego for several periods before arriving here in 1995. Spends weeks on insane detail, using ink to adorn the paper with wings of a philapores, ancient trees, a love in longing, all metaphors of a blessed imagination. Outshined the Whitney Biennial and had a spring solo at PS1. His epic tale After the Woods is centered on two lovers separated for 1000 years; the man transforming into a knight representing the evolution of nature, while the woman becomes a spaceship embodiment of technology. Thirty-two years old. Visual poet.

Tell me about After the Woods. It's an ongoing narrative that's been in the works for three years. It takes form through drawings, sculptures, installations, potentially through animations and books. It's a story I wrote that serves as the backbone for the various visual elements, which help develop the subtext. The story is linear; the way I work isn't. My process is not unlike filmmaking, where you don't necessarily shoot all your scenes in a consecutive order but you work through what's practical and then edit it together.

How do the various forms help to elaborate the story? Something that you can hold in your hand will give you a different feel than something you can walk into. It reminds you of your own physicality, and the story deals with the issue of physicality quite a bit. The idea is that different mediums will allow the story to become more rich, or real.

You've created a new mythology. I've always liked Greek tragedies, how it always pits humankind against an impossible situation. As the reader, you're aware of the impossibility of the action before the climax so it's not a mystery, and yet you go through it regardless.

How do you know when a piece is complete? Ultimately, you develop your own level of scrutiny based upon whatever your needs or ultimate goals are. But it's probably like editing a book; you read through it, and if something stands out or doesn't seem right, you deal with it until it becomes seamless and has its own internal logic.

You've been involved in the art world for 14 years. What have you learned of the artist's struggle? What keeps me going is that there is no other choice. Regardless of where I've lived or what kind of day jobs I've done, doing this work has always been a necessity even though there's been a lot of failure, a lot of things people won't see.

Ernesto Caivano's work can be seen at       David Zwirner Gallery, 525 W. 19th       St. (betw. 10th Ave. & West St.),          212-727-2070; and the Anthony          Grant Gallery, 37 W. 57th St. (betw.       5th & 6th Aves.), 212-755-0434.