Hello Dear Iratxe YC. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

My art has as a central theme the mental illnesses, specially disorders as depression, anxiety and bipolar. So, the Covid-19 affected directly on these points I work about. The lockdown, empty streets, silence, the fear for the loved ones, the death and the uncertainty of the whole situation had a great impact on how I was feeling and what I was painting. Covid-19 affected emphasizing my usual themes of mental health; I started painting my own emotion, the themes became real so my works started feeling real too.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

I have been painting since I can remember and I have always have great support from my family and friends. Since a little child I had a huge connection with nature so I would always carry flowers around and paint about them, something that haven't changed at all in the present. So, when the time to pick an University came, I chose to study Fine Arts and later, a Masters Degree on Illustration. During that period I used to paint for beauty, the work was empty. It was during 2017 when I really picked art as a career, when I decided I have something to tell with my art.
 
 
Can you tell to our audience about your techniques for overcoming creative blocks?

That's a wonderful question! Creative blocks are a real nightmare for any kind of artist. There is nothing worse than having the need to create but you can't focus, you can't paint right or your inspiration is gone. Creative blocks often come after work burnt-outs, euphoric creative phases or because of mental health status. So, I find the best technique just to don't force yourself to paint and focus on different projects. For example, when I'm feeling blocked, instead of trying over and over again to paint something, I do cross-stitch, I take care of my plants or I just watch a movie. It can last a day, a week or a month, it doesn't matter. The point is doing something you can actually complete so you feel fullfilled instead of carrying the negativity of not being able to create. I like to think about creative blocks as empty glasses we have to fill slowly again, they aren't empty forever, they are just a phase.
 
 
What is your favorite subject to painting and why?

My favorite subject is the figure of the woman, specially portraits. As I mentioned earlier, I paint about myself and my emotions so, as a woman, I use the female portrait to connect myself with the painting. There is also a feminist point on it and a the beauty I find in the female body, to be honest. So, this three points together allow me to be part of the painting and they awake an interesting subject to me to paint.
 

We want to talk about the “Baroque” touch of your Arworks. Can you tell us more about your artistic style?

Some people say "less is more"; well, I live in all aspects of my life with exactly the opposite: Horror Vacui, fear to the emptiness. My favorite art movements are the Rennaissance, Baroque and Pre-Raphaelits so they have a huge impact on the way I paint and how I fill the canvas. The ornaments are very important for me as each object has a meaning and each flower represents a feeling. Lace, pearls, medieval inspired jewelry... all of it talks about me and my environment. So you could say my artistic style is directly inpired by the Great Masters compositions and color palettes, and my own personal inquisitiveness.
 

We saw your Artwork tones are so unique. Can you tell us about the colors on your palette and anything new you have been experimenting with?

My palette is usually warm and muted to set the tone of my paintings. It's just a personal thing that I like mixing a cold concept with a warm palette to create a cozy feeling out of a negative experience, to create a crash between them. But during the Covid lockdown I started experimenting more with cold palettes, which create a distant feeling about the painting. In the way to achieve that change, I started using the Zorn palette, which has helped me muting my colors to colder ones without losing a warm touch on them.
 

What type of editing software do you like to use for your completed paintings, and what do you like about it?

I really like Procreate to edit my paintings. It's a very easy and intuitive program to use. Whether is a scanned or photographed archive, I touch it very little with editing software so, Procreate is helpful to adjust levels easily to erase shines in black surfaces and to clean any weird spot.
 

Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?

Sure! Just a little reminder that it is possible working with oils without toxic media as many of us do. Most people think you need toxic turpentines and substitutes, which are highly damaging for us and for our planet (even if you dispose them correctly). So I encourage every artist to search about their media and try to work as sustainably as they can.

That's all! Thank you very much for this lovely interview, it's been a pleasure :)
 
 
Thank you for your time!

www.iratxeyc.com