“With stone, I give permanence to fleeting moments—childhood, play, nostalgia—etched in marble and precious gems, inviting viewers to remember the joy we once knew.”
Juan Miguel Quiñones (b. 1979, Cádiz, Spain) is a self-taught sculptor whose work stands out for its technical precision, subtle irony, and deeply felt nostalgia. Through a rigorous and intensely personal practice, he has revived and reinterpreted traditional techniques such as pietra dura the inlay of semi-precious stones into marble to transform everyday objects into enduring, poetic icons.
His sculptural universe is populated by melting ice creams, fairground toys, skateboards, and vintage game consoles all meticulously hand-carved from marble, onyx, lapis lazuli, malachite, and other noble stones. These works, which initially appear playful and familiar, reveal themselves as trompe-l’œil sculptures that explore the tension between the ephemeral and the permanent, the banal and the precious.
Quiñones’s work occupies a space between pop culture and craftsmanship, between private memory and shared iconography. With an almost archaeological sensitivity, he recovers symbols of a collective childhood not idealized, but lived and grants them permanence through the density and gravity of stone. At its core, his practice is a meditation on time, illusion, and emotional resonance.
He has presented solo exhibitions at Delimbo Gallery (Seville), Urvanity Art Fair (Madrid), as well as projects in Mallorca, Antequera, Estepona, and London. His work has also been included in major group shows at institutions such as CAC Málaga and Fundación Valentín de Madariaga. Quiñones’s sculptures are part of important public and private collections, confirming his place as one of the most singular voices in contemporary Spanish sculpture.
Through his practice, Juan Miguel Quiñones turns stone into memory transforming the weight of material into delicate, evocative objects that invite us to revisit the joy, play, and tenderness of a time we thought we’d left behind.