ART AND DESIGN ALEJO PALACIOS
When I moved to Barcelona, I experienced the need to investigate new forms of communication and expression, fully introducing myself to paper and ink.
Alejo Palacios was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. and has academic training as an Industrial Designer. While studying he worked for a furniture company and began his first approach with materials such as wood, leather, metals and fabrics. . As the years passed, he discovered a passion to the art of craftsmanship and decided to independently develop furniture and objects in Argentina, in search of traditional materials and processes from the Rio de la Plata region. He is currently living and working in Barcelona.
Tell us about your biggest inspirations or influences.
My work is born from the constant influences with the materials. As well as the work of artisans, their tools, techniques and knowledge that are inherited from generation to generation. The development of my work starts from the same way in which I would design a chair. I like to choose a particular material, and start the search. Observing the traditional processes of artisan work opens up new ways of concretizing ideas. This is how I constantly explore the work of cabinetmakers, a blacksmith or a saddler, for example. The beauty of this search is the simplicity with which the elements are worked, the harmony and their purity.
Tell us a little about your creative process.
I work like a craftsman, simply and in a noble way. Which has a lot to do with contemplating every step I take. I am constantly influenced by materials and processes, which are then projected - sometimes explicitly and other more abstractly - the representation of a material, such as a fabric, or the intersection of wood. The path that I travel is in relation to textures, overlays, transparencies, lights and shadows. I interpret volumes and reliefs, materialities.
How has the pandemic affected your creativity?
I have used the time to focus and deepen my job search. Where before we were overstimulated with various everyday situations. This brake has served to value the wealth of the present without projecting so much into the future. The pandemic has given us a message regarding how society was working. What has to do with individualism, compulsive consumption, as well as the pollution that we generate to the environment. The importance of raising awareness and changing certain habits to slow down.
Who do you consider an icon of our time?
I admire people who work in different disciplines Naoto Fukasawa and Dieter Rams are two designers who have developed a lot of theory on design concepts, but also how to perceive and interact with everyday objects. The manifesto of Ai Weiwei, and its media that link almost surreal projects with artisan workmanship, achieving pieces with a high quality result in the work. Also, I continue to be surprised by people who have left a very strong legacy such as Tápies, Miró, Le Corbusier or Giacometti.
What does wellness mean to you?
I try to carry out a simple routine, to be able to work without time or pressure, although constant. Being in harmony with my environment, reflection, curiosity to learn, are part of the satisfaction of well-being. Pursuing the dreams we have while enjoying the journey, regardless of the destination.
Anything else you would like to share?
I am in a harmonious and balanced creative process, of enjoying each step without skipping stages. Part of this process leads me to explore and immerse myself in the manufacturing methods of the materials I work with. That, in many cases, they are cooperatives or individuals who work in the production of paper with techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation. In order to promote and revalue the work of arts and crafts.