Susana Alastruey Diez: Artista
The railroad of life
On the railroad of life,
the paths drift apart
in the darkness of the heart.
As if we looked at them through shattered glass,
their tiny particles fall to the ground
and scatter like shining teardrops.
Let us not look back!
Nothing remains, only ashes
and the paths which drift apart
in the darkness of the heart.
On her and her studies
She was born in Barcelona, in the emblematic, multicultural Gracia district — from Gracia, therefore, of birth and will.
She studied Pictorial Methods at the Llotja, School of Arts & Crafts of Barcelona, where she was trained in several techniques: coal drawing, watercolours, acrylic, oil and fresco (specialised in Mural Painting).
She continued her studies at the Reial Cercle Artistic of Barcelona, and later on at the Academia Taure, eventually joining their artistic circle, which provides her of a space for drawing and painting.
At the same time, she took part in several workshops, gathering knowledge she will apply throughout her professional career, ranging from screen-printing to photograph techniques: photomontage, image processing, computer drawing, using applications such as Photoshop and CorelDraw.
She has a degree in Philosophy specialised in Aesthetics, granted by the University of Barcelona.
On her reasons to paint
Plastic work as a flow where the senses are privileged, where the brush in motion acquires a life of its own and feelings are captured in the canvas, by means of symbol, colour or gesture, being the transmitter of the concealed, the untold and unspoken are revealed from within, and the empty canvas is enlightened, shape and colour emerge from the void, the canvas is filled with meanings, displaying in its nakedness the artist herself.
All is thought and thought becomes feeling, a feeling that speaks and speaks to us, communicating in continuous dialogue, with itself and with the other, completing its meaning in the eye of the other.
“And in that reflection painting will present to me in its purest state, achieving a value in itself, there are no longer obstructions or barriers between ideas, thought or feeling.”
On meanings and themes
Her work is always akin to herself, ambivalent between the conventional and revolutionary. Her connecting thread is constantly revised, which makes her explore a variety of themes simultaneously, in constant reflection, sometimes provocative, always breaking through towards dreams and utopias, where reality and fantasy merge, hold hands, and fuse, taking part in one single game. And it is in this constant flow of ideas, as in a metamorphosis, rose to petal and petal to teardrop, where we communicate towards a universe marked by the intimate experience, and it is through the brush becoming our guide that we are carried, wrapped in its magic onto that other state, the Ideal, the Surreal Dreaming Poetic State.
And it is through this process which communicates like a soft cascade whispering in our ears, like the song of an enraged sea, like a blue day, like roses, red roses, like rage, that life-giving rage. That is the challenge, which is going further beyond the work of art itself where its meaning is revealed like a written work, seducing us through its pages. And it is in that magic, that handling, deciphering the indecipherable, mysterious message, through this other language, the one made of its symbols, shapes, and its thrilling, exciting chromatics, that move us from laughter to tears. And it is in that tempering gesture, that firm and strong gesture, that ability to comprehend, where the hidden mystery ceases to be and the message is shown like an open book, with a new alphabet but with the same code of a text.
On her professional career
In the professional field, she is a multi-disciplinarian artist who combines every aspect of painting (collage, acrylics, gouache, oil...) with graphic design and illustration.
On her experience
- From 1990 to 2004, she combined painting with graphic design and illustration.
Around 1990 she co-founded the Xiroi Association, devoted mainly to the editorial field, working regularly with publishers of a remarkable stress in socio-cultural subjects, such as Hacer, El Llamp, Plankton, Sirius, Dialogues Editions-Paris, and also for “La Chambre vous informe”, Paris, a weekly magazine of the Official Chamber of Commerce… in the broad field of graphic design and illustration.
In 2000 she co-founded Arsschedula
Some works marked in her memory as an illustrator:
- The anarchism against the Francoist state CNT 1939-1951, by Abel Paz, Anselmo Lorenzo Foundation.
- The Current, by Luís Andrés Edo, Published by the Fundació d’estudis llibertaris i anarcosindicalistes.
- L’Emir Abdelkade - Autobiographie (ecrite en prison France en 1849). A bilingual edition in French and Arabic, Dialogues Editions -Paris.
Magazines, art gallery catalogues, books of art, corporative images and so on. Magazines like the one of the Ateneu Enciclopèdic, galleries like the Taüll Gallery in Barcelona, books of art like El Sueño Eterno, Ed. European Art Group, designs for the House of the Arabic Book in Barcelona etc.
- 1997, featured writer in Corel Magazine! Experiences section, a tutorial explaining how to carry out a work in Corel. A special note on issue #21 of May, 1997, featuring a step-by-step explanation of an Arab tile pattern.
Currently she participates sporadically in several publications: gazettes, magazines, and often in the magazine of the hundred-year-old Ateneu Enciclopèdic Popular.
On her exhibitions
She organises exhibitions concurrently with her illustration works when the possibility arises and time allows.
- 1990-1997, several collective exhibitions sponsored by the artistic circle Taure: permanent exhibitions at the Taure Exhibition Hall in Gracia (Barcelona).
- 1990, collective exhibition oils and pastels at the Gallery in 80, Caspe st., Barcelona.
- 1992, collective exhibition Caixa de Catalunya (Centre de Cultura Sant Jordi).
- 1998, she took part in the Interart ’98 Valencia, Gabriela Art Study, oils.
- 1998-2003, she combined philosophical studies with illustration.
- 2004, collective exhibition ACEA’S 3rd International Show of Plastic and Visual Arts, small formats, Barcelona.
- 2004, collective exhibition of drawings in the poetry section, at the 1st Biennial International Exhibition Barcelona-Japan: the current art, Casa Batlló, organised by the International Art Exchange Association.
Faced with the need of a working space which can be opened to the public:
- 2005, Opening of her own painting studio on April 14th, with the individual exhibition Art & Nature, 33rd Oro st., ground floor, Gracia.
- 2005, she took part in the TOG! Open Workshops of Gracia, September 30th and October 1st and 2nd.
- 2007, she took part in the Umbrellas Project in La Casa Amarilla, with her work: Després de la tempesta, la calma: an umbrella artistically modified. It opened in March 21st, at the Centro Cívico Fort Pienc.
She currently works in painting, oil on canvas (easel or table).
Links: El Website de Susana / e-mail me
On the railroad of life,
the paths drift apart
in the darkness of the heart.
As if we looked at them through shattered glass,
their tiny particles fall to the ground
and scatter like shining teardrops.
Let us not look back!
Nothing remains, only ashes
and the paths which drift apart
in the darkness of the heart.
On her and her studies
She was born in Barcelona, in the emblematic, multicultural Gracia district — from Gracia, therefore, of birth and will.
She studied Pictorial Methods at the Llotja, School of Arts & Crafts of Barcelona, where she was trained in several techniques: coal drawing, watercolours, acrylic, oil and fresco (specialised in Mural Painting).
She continued her studies at the Reial Cercle Artistic of Barcelona, and later on at the Academia Taure, eventually joining their artistic circle, which provides her of a space for drawing and painting.
At the same time, she took part in several workshops, gathering knowledge she will apply throughout her professional career, ranging from screen-printing to photograph techniques: photomontage, image processing, computer drawing, using applications such as Photoshop and CorelDraw.
She has a degree in Philosophy specialised in Aesthetics, granted by the University of Barcelona.
On her reasons to paint
Plastic work as a flow where the senses are privileged, where the brush in motion acquires a life of its own and feelings are captured in the canvas, by means of symbol, colour or gesture, being the transmitter of the concealed, the untold and unspoken are revealed from within, and the empty canvas is enlightened, shape and colour emerge from the void, the canvas is filled with meanings, displaying in its nakedness the artist herself.
All is thought and thought becomes feeling, a feeling that speaks and speaks to us, communicating in continuous dialogue, with itself and with the other, completing its meaning in the eye of the other.
“And in that reflection painting will present to me in its purest state, achieving a value in itself, there are no longer obstructions or barriers between ideas, thought or feeling.”
On meanings and themes
Her work is always akin to herself, ambivalent between the conventional and revolutionary. Her connecting thread is constantly revised, which makes her explore a variety of themes simultaneously, in constant reflection, sometimes provocative, always breaking through towards dreams and utopias, where reality and fantasy merge, hold hands, and fuse, taking part in one single game. And it is in this constant flow of ideas, as in a metamorphosis, rose to petal and petal to teardrop, where we communicate towards a universe marked by the intimate experience, and it is through the brush becoming our guide that we are carried, wrapped in its magic onto that other state, the Ideal, the Surreal Dreaming Poetic State.
And it is through this process which communicates like a soft cascade whispering in our ears, like the song of an enraged sea, like a blue day, like roses, red roses, like rage, that life-giving rage. That is the challenge, which is going further beyond the work of art itself where its meaning is revealed like a written work, seducing us through its pages. And it is in that magic, that handling, deciphering the indecipherable, mysterious message, through this other language, the one made of its symbols, shapes, and its thrilling, exciting chromatics, that move us from laughter to tears. And it is in that tempering gesture, that firm and strong gesture, that ability to comprehend, where the hidden mystery ceases to be and the message is shown like an open book, with a new alphabet but with the same code of a text.
On her professional career
In the professional field, she is a multi-disciplinarian artist who combines every aspect of painting (collage, acrylics, gouache, oil...) with graphic design and illustration.
On her experience
- From 1990 to 2004, she combined painting with graphic design and illustration.
Around 1990 she co-founded the Xiroi Association, devoted mainly to the editorial field, working regularly with publishers of a remarkable stress in socio-cultural subjects, such as Hacer, El Llamp, Plankton, Sirius, Dialogues Editions-Paris, and also for “La Chambre vous informe”, Paris, a weekly magazine of the Official Chamber of Commerce… in the broad field of graphic design and illustration.
In 2000 she co-founded Arsschedula
Some works marked in her memory as an illustrator:
- The anarchism against the Francoist state CNT 1939-1951, by Abel Paz, Anselmo Lorenzo Foundation.
- The Current, by Luís Andrés Edo, Published by the Fundació d’estudis llibertaris i anarcosindicalistes.
- L’Emir Abdelkade - Autobiographie (ecrite en prison France en 1849). A bilingual edition in French and Arabic, Dialogues Editions -Paris.
Magazines, art gallery catalogues, books of art, corporative images and so on. Magazines like the one of the Ateneu Enciclopèdic, galleries like the Taüll Gallery in Barcelona, books of art like El Sueño Eterno, Ed. European Art Group, designs for the House of the Arabic Book in Barcelona etc.
- 1997, featured writer in Corel Magazine! Experiences section, a tutorial explaining how to carry out a work in Corel. A special note on issue #21 of May, 1997, featuring a step-by-step explanation of an Arab tile pattern.
Currently she participates sporadically in several publications: gazettes, magazines, and often in the magazine of the hundred-year-old Ateneu Enciclopèdic Popular.
On her exhibitions
She organises exhibitions concurrently with her illustration works when the possibility arises and time allows.
- 1990-1997, several collective exhibitions sponsored by the artistic circle Taure: permanent exhibitions at the Taure Exhibition Hall in Gracia (Barcelona).
- 1990, collective exhibition oils and pastels at the Gallery in 80, Caspe st., Barcelona.
- 1992, collective exhibition Caixa de Catalunya (Centre de Cultura Sant Jordi).
- 1998, she took part in the Interart ’98 Valencia, Gabriela Art Study, oils.
- 1998-2003, she combined philosophical studies with illustration.
- 2004, collective exhibition ACEA’S 3rd International Show of Plastic and Visual Arts, small formats, Barcelona.
- 2004, collective exhibition of drawings in the poetry section, at the 1st Biennial International Exhibition Barcelona-Japan: the current art, Casa Batlló, organised by the International Art Exchange Association.
Faced with the need of a working space which can be opened to the public:
- 2005, Opening of her own painting studio on April 14th, with the individual exhibition Art & Nature, 33rd Oro st., ground floor, Gracia.
- 2005, she took part in the TOG! Open Workshops of Gracia, September 30th and October 1st and 2nd.
- 2007, she took part in the Umbrellas Project in La Casa Amarilla, with her work: Després de la tempesta, la calma: an umbrella artistically modified. It opened in March 21st, at the Centro Cívico Fort Pienc.
She currently works in painting, oil on canvas (easel or table).
Links: El Website de Susana / e-mail me
