Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Esteve Llorens.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born in Valencia, Spain, and grew up next to the Sea in Oliva, a beautiful coastal town in the Mediterranean. So, I grew up surrounded by these two big blue planes that intersected in an imaginary line that I always tried to reach. We called it “the little blue line” and that has been a big influence and reference is my work as an artist.
Then I moved away from the coast when I went to college, won a fellowship to study abroad in Europe and ended up working as an engineer in Germany for a couple of years. When I saved enough money, I enrolled in art school in Madrid and after two years I moved back to Valencia. The university there offered me a grant to spend one year at UT Austin, and that was my first stay in the USA and in Texas, and I loved it.
A few years later, a Fulbright fellowship brought me back to the US, this time to Richmond VA, where I obtained my Masters in Sculpture and Extended Media at VCU. And then, after travelling for a bit and living in some other places, I finally established myself in Austin TX. And this is where I live, for now.
Please tell us about your art.
I make things of various sizes and materials. Sometimes these things are big enough to command the space where they are shown, so they become installations. Sometimes they are smaller and part of a larger family that is normally called “series”. I like to do this when I feel the need to explore and push a certain idea or material. But I really don’t commit to only one way of working. I like to learn new techniques, ancient and new. The process of learning these techniques is very enriching and productive, and also rewarding. Traveling is fundamental.
Each project is different, and each project suggests a different story. I do not like to tell stories, but rather to inspire its creation. I see my pieces as excerpts of something bigger, maybe like the beginning of a sentence where the receiver writes the end.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I think that there are different kinds of artists, as there are different kinds of writers. There is fiction, there is poetry, there are autobiographies, and journalism etc. I believe that all these forms of expression are as important and necessary. We don’t create in a vacuum, so there is dust. Everything happening around us affects us, and it affects our work, of course.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I think that the best way to experience my work is live. I have two shows coming up, one in Austin TX, and one in Valencia, Spain. In Austin I will be showing at Las Cruxes, a very cool spot in the East Side directed by Veronica Ortuño. The exhibition, titled “Correspondence” will feature a new series of what I call weaving-objects, and also other pieces that will adapt to the space of the gallery. There will also be a limited-edition publication-object that will include a text by writer Amira Pierce. It opens August 18, and it will be up until November 11.
Then, starting September 21, I will show new work at pazYcomedias Gallery, in Valencia. If a visit to both of these galleries is not possible, there is always the Internet, and my website, though not everything is shown there.
Contact Info:
- Website: anaestevellorens.com
- Instagram: @anaestevellorens
Image Credit:
Artist portrait by Jody Horton
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