Jan 25

Jan 25 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: GEMMA ALPUENTE

Art, Creative People, Culture, Interviews, Nature, Wellbeing

Playing with colours, dimension and gravity . . .

Gemma Alpuente (Algemesí - 1993) is a Spanish artist from Valencia. Her vocation is artistic-plastic research, which has led her to work in a multidisciplinary way, exploring and using different materials, formats and techniques allowing her to develop her own methodology. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and group exhibitions all over the world.

Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences please.

I understand art, and more specifically artistic creation, as a research method in which to develop new concepts and visual, plastic and material frameworks. In the current period of artistic and personal maturity in which I find myself, I am developing my most intimate artistic project; taking this study to the field of contemporary art, in order to explore various lines of work.

On the one hand, purely abstract creation and on the other hand, mixed creation, interspersing my particular abstraction with more figurative elements and representations. Dedicating special elaboration to the creative process; my interest in the final work focuses on the conception of it as "that physical and tangible" that has resulted from the set of knowledge, actions, techniques and chance given in the course of the creation of the work; a symbiosis that reaffirms the conception that each piece is unique in all its plastic and conceptual magnitudes.

Today, I find that abstract art is an aspect of work in which I feel completely free creatively and that I can identify with conceptually. Through the development of my own technique I create artistic compositions based on the simplicity of the gestural and chromatic act that intend to go a step further: the painting becomes volume, the brushstroke becomes the protagonist, the collage becomes a fundamental element, the process is frozen and the works emanate life and movement.

All this praxis is synthesized in pieces that manage to stop the matter in an exact point; because the color stains that would come off, do not, the liquid instead of evaporating remains solidified, and the two-dimensional recovers presence. Masses of colors, textures, and chromatisms intertwine forming volumes and forms that constitute my own plastic identity.

Concepts: gravity, time, continent-content; matter-absence, breach in traditional notions.

Painting process/technique: my own, the result of experimentation with materials outside the field of fine arts, whose manipulation is laborious and requires full PPE protection. Chemical reactions, solidification of liquids, high temperatures and control in the freezing of pictorial fluids.

The paint, in liquid state and its application on the supports conforms the traditional work of art, in this case, this subrogation to the two-dimensional plane is broken; the plastic action takes protagonism, becomes independent of the support and becomes continent and content, matter and absence, painting, sculpture, art itself.

How are the current trends in technology and innovation affecting your work as a creative?

My work, being so disruptive and innovative, is very much influenced by new materials, technologies and processes. I used to draw this when I was a child, and right now, after an unconscious search of my need to capture from my purest essence, I find myself making real (with my particular way of creating work) drawings that little Gemma used to make in her childhood. The passage of time, the open mind and the gradual need to learn and innovate with what we have around us is one of the key points of my production.

In addition, the presence of technology and social networks in our daily lives is another key point in our interaction with the world. Therefore, it affects the way we create, show our work and make it reach the world.

We’d love to hear more about your creative process.

My way of working gives a lot of importance to intuition, emotions and sensitivity. I started working from these emotions and my creative process emerged from within. When I create art, it is as if my body becomes a channel and executor of my soul. Sometimes I have very open ideas or sketches, I don't like to have very concrete ideas, but there is always a space for the emotion of the creative moment, chance and possibilities. I think that keeps the art alive, vibrant and exciting.

What do you think of the art world and how it works in general?

The art world is corrupt, as is the world in general. There are brilliant artists with brilliant minds who live thinking that their work is not good, and there are mediocre artists thinking that their work is magnificent because they are endorsed by large galleries, or have a circle of wealthy people who feed that feeling and social status. And then there are the rest of us trying to make ends meet, trying to show the world the beauty we see in it, working hard, striving not to fall into the despair of the uncertainty of being an artist. Because it is not easy. To be an artist and to be faithful to what you really want to show to the world is to be able to show your most intimate version to the world. A world that will judge you, that will tell you if you are good or not, if it is worth investing in it or not. We artists work very hard and sometimes it is hard, because these emotions cannot corrupt the beauty of our creations.

It's wonderful when you find people in the art field, gallery owners, curators, critics, collectors, who have really good values, and who really value art, the artist and the effort he puts into his work.

Anything coming up that we should know about?

I currently have a solo exhibition in Madrid, I have several projects in progress, and I am eager to continue expanding as my art does. And above all I am open to new projects and opportunities.

What does wellbeing mean to you and anything in particular that you practice?

Wellness is the basis of everything, I believe. It is something I am working on. I am aware that when we are emotionally well everything flows better. As you know, artists are very emotional and sensitive, this has its good part and its complicated part. That's why the management of emotions is a task that we often approach through art, but we also need to be able to do it in other ways that together bring us peace of mind. For me, for example, sport is indispensable, since it frees me from stress, (part of it), and as I said before, my way of working, from the inside becomes a kind of meditation, the result of which are my artistic creations.

Is there anything else you’d like to share? Thank you for joining us today.

I am writing a book about everything I have been learning about emotional management and getting started in art. My motivation is to make a guide with what I would have liked to know before embarking on this path. An accompaniment guide is something I had been thinking about for a long time and finally I have decided to do it, and it fills me with emotion. I will tell you more details. I will end the interview by inviting all of you, the team and the readers, to get to know me better through my social networks, and above all, if you liked my interview, my work or you want to tell me anything about it, feel completely free to do so!