Using colour like it costs money: Sergio Membrillas’ emotive, conscious practice

“The most important thing is to figure out what makes you happy,” Sergio Membrillas tells us, “and what you want to do at any given moment,” setting the tone of our catch-up with the Berlin-based illustrator, who we last spoke to in 2016. Since then, following his interest, obsession and collection of GDR-made objects and paraphernalia, Sergio’s style has evolved as have his interests, opting for more vector characters, flat colours and a more casual drawing style – all the while dipping his toes in abstract expressionism. “Style can change as our interests change,” Sergio explains, “and it can be difficult to keep track of it,” detailing how the nature of being an artist is enjoying the wonder of learning to change over time. “I consistently draw parallels with music,” he adds, “Talking Heads cannot sustain a consistent playing style for an extended period, yet modifying it can pose a risk.”

A recent evolution and focus of Sergio’s work is his attitude to texture and the effect it has on colour – something that has always fascinated him since he originally studied Drawing in Fine Art. “It makes it stronger and more real,” he suggests, especially in the context of restrictions. “Sometimes these textures are caused by a scarcity of resources that we can’t imagine now,” Sergio details, recalling early Eastern European and Japanese textbooks and the limited colours they could use. “It made the artist use their creativity to make their work stand out with what they had,” he adds. “The authenticity of that work can be detected in an emotional way, akin to a contemporary cave painting.”

“Something human mixes with melancholy and nostalgia for the past and it really touches you,” Sergio continues, touching on a sentimental note that underpins his entire practice. “In my opinion, art has to be emotive, so this is the challenge we have to look for. Nowadays, we have so many tools that people feel like they have to use all of them.” Sergio’s new appreciation for restriction in illustration has, as he explains, brought a sense of authenticity and excitement to his process, turning to mid-century Polish posters for inspiration. In doing so, he tried to imitate those results with his 256 colours, but limiting his palette “as if colours would cost money,” he says – a trick he often shares with his illustration students.

A seemingly perpetual collector, Sergio’s recent intrigues look to drive the illustrator in a more folkloric direction ahead. “I really like going back to old art/folklore/traditional forms and learning about them,” he notes, his newest acquisitions including a book about Danish tattoos in the 60s, a book about the Egyptian collection at the Brooklyn Museum, a book by photographer Liv Liberg, and the magazine Apartamento. He concludes: “I suppose those purchases reflect some of the artistic trends that excite me at the moment,” however, given his eclectic pursuit of oddities and enthusiasms, who knows where Sergio will go next.