Oneire Mora on cycling his way into art and the inspiration behind his 3D oil paintings

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There’s not much obvious connection between art and cycling at first sight, but in the story of Oneire Mora, a Venezuela-born artist, these two paths come seamlessly together. Oneire, currently residing in Valencia, Spain, was a professional cyclist before he became an artist and without him consciously knowing his cycling career played an important role in his artistic evolution.

Oneire’s passion for painting was ignited when he was about 12 years old. On that occasion he was visiting a famous boulevard of painters (‘Boulevard de los pintores’) in his hometown of Mérida, Venezuela, where he was struck by one particular artist who painted landscapes using mirror as a canvas. Oneire was moved by the talent of the artist and felt that his creative self awoke at that specific moment. Even though he didn’t pursue painting following this particular event, the creative passion was nestling inside him while he dedicated himself to cycling.

During his cycling career peak between 1995 and 2005 he had a number of travel episodes, during which he’d spent seven years living in Israel and Paris, eventually basing himself in Valencia. His travels filled him with fascination for the European monuments and architecture. He still vividly remembers the shaky bicycle rides through the stone-paved old town streets during the races, which he loved, nevertheless.

In Valencia Oneire’s creative self was triggered again when he made a friend- a painter from Italy. He encouraged Oneire to paint because he noticed during one of their encounters how interested this professional cyclist was in art making. He advised Oneire to start by drawing and using watercolors. So from there on Oneire took the advice of his friend and started practicing.

When he came back to Venezuela in 2006, he felt ready to pick up oil paint and made his first paintings representing European cities, which he recreated from the postcards he brought back from his cycling trips.

The patience and perseverance he has developed in cycling is clearly notable in his art. His paintings are detailed, textured and elaborated, with influences from pointillism and Van Gogh’s style. There is a lot of blue colour in his artworks, a colour that, as the artist himself describes, is a colour of balance and positivity.

Oneire was happy with how his first paintings turned out. Besides that, he received a lot of positive feedback from his friends, many of who come from his cycling circle. He was even able to sell one of his first paintings to a friend, which clearly meant that he was off to a good start.

Since constantly improving himself is in the DNA of Oneire, his artworks were also undergoing a constant evolution. He has started with painting landscapes and realist themes, but then gradually moved towards Impressionism and Surrealism, eventually, in 2014, finding his personal style of intertwined lines.

As he himself reflects, his earlier paintings were quite plane and two-dimensional, and looking at them now makes him feel like they’re somewhat empty. He went on a quest to incorporate more and more texture into his artworks, applying paint with the backside of a brush and later with a little piece of carton. This creates the sense of a deeper perspective and movement.

Using this technique one painting can take up to three months to finish and Oneire is not stopping until every detail on his canvas has been calibrated. It’s impossible to not appreciate the amount of detail in his work, therefore the positive word of mouth about his art was spreading fast, leading to a massive interest in his work.

Undoubtedly, the highlights of his artistic endeavor were his international exhibitions: Oneire had the chance to show his work in Venezuela, Spain, Belgium, France and New York! He is constantly expanding his network and his ambition is to become a world renowned artist recognized for his authentic style. In 2020 Oneire got on board with Artok Gallery and continues to explore new themes in his art.

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