Carmen working on the stone series at "1-art valley"

 

A female artist came all the way from Spain to China across continents and oceans, found a home to her work and soul in Guangzhou, and started cross-over work in art there: from two-dimension to three-dimension. What kind of story could it be?

 

The story began

 

Carmen and her work

 

Carmen first came to China in 2006 with a Spanish friend who was working in China at that time. She was impressed with the Chinese culture and decided to stay. Though she’s been here for 8 years and still has limited English and Chinese, this Spanish artist has the heart and energy of a child, and she is leading a new stage of life in Guangzhou.

 

Falling in love with the city

 

Carmen working on interior design projects

 

Carmen has worked in the design industry for 25 years. She’s worked with several top brands in both Europe and China. Major projects she’s responsible for as an interior designer include the Consulate General of Spain in Guangzhou, the Spanish Official Travel Agency, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.

 

As an artist, Carmen pays attention to the art scene of Guangzhou and the bigger world around, and she loves Redtory Creative Center and the art and craft on Kangwang Road. For her, there is still much to be desired; she goes to the galleries, only to find they are closed on quite a few occasions. She misses the many and assorted museums and galleries in Europe.

 

The story with "1-art valley"

 

Carmen's stone series

 

Carmen heard about "1-art valley" Ecological & Artistic Resort from her brother. Besides ecological fun, the other signature offer of "1-art valley" is its artist-in-residence project, which invites international artists for cross-over creation with its stone series. The stones are in the shapes of circle, square and triangle. Carmen mostly works on large canvases, so painting on stones is not so strange to her.

 

Before Carmen came to China, her artist friends warned her that she’d better paint something the Chinese would understand, and that they wouldn’t like abstract work. As a result, Carmen started to make more realistic work. As the first artist in residence of "1-art valley", she’s finished two batches of stones.

 

Cross-over creation

 

The stones, the lake and the bungalows

 

For Carmen, stones are dead, and she wants to give them life, so she painted all kinds of insects and fish on them. There are 4 elements on each of her stones, which are “water, earth, fire and air”, in both the first bright batch and the second dark batch. It co-incidentally tallies with the spatial disciplines of “heaven, earth and water” of "1-art valley". It is a great view to see the circle, square and triangle stones carrying fish, dragonflies, butterflies and sea snails lying by the lake, surrounded by bungalows and little orchards of the resort.

 

Carmen’s techniques are more mature with the second stone batch. With the first batch, she didn’t mix the paints, so the painting is bright; with the second batch, she’s mastering the techniques of working on stones, so she confidently mixed the paints like she does with her canvas work, and the painting is more abstract as well.

 

It is a challenge for Carmen to make the two-dimension to three-dimension cross-over; however, she already prefers working on large canvases, and small ones make her feel restrained; and for a passionate female artist who comes from a country where flamenco and bull-fights were born, cross-over creation also means fun.

 

"Broad sea bears springing fins"

 

The colorful insects and fish on the stones are reminiscent of the Chinese verse: Broad sea bears springing fins, and vast sky breeds soaring feathers. Carmen told us, she feels like the happiest person in the world each time she finishes a piece. At "1-art valley", in Guangzhou--- even China and the world, broad sea and vast sky everywhere, we believe that Carmen will continue her work, cross more boundaries and dimensions, and create more art that touches heartstrings.