Collection: Javier Trelis

Spanish artist Javier Trelis brings a patient eye to the human body and the natural world. Working with sanguine, a warm red chalk, and pastel, he creates his original drawings on poplar boards. The wood’s grain and knots become part of the picture, lending their texture to the figures and faces drawn across them.

Born in Alcoy, Javier attended the town’s School of Arts and Crafts as a child and is otherwise largely self-taught. He remembers walking through corridors filled with paintings and sculptures, certain that one day he would make work of his own. Developing his own way of seeing became just as important as learning how to draw.

His influences include classical Greek and Roman art and the Italian Renaissance, whose curiosity about anatomy and the wider world he shares. Nature remains his favourite teacher. Guided by natural light, both in the studio and outdoors, Javier pays attention to the details that make a subject particular. His drawings offer the pleasure of that close observation: a chance to pause, look properly and notice something we might otherwise miss.