Interview: Begoña Lafuente
Luca Curci talks with Begoña Lafuente, one of the winners of ARTIST OF THE MONTH – AUGUST 2020.

Begoña Lafuente -Valencia, Spain, February 17th. 1969 – lives and works as an artist near the Northen sea in The Netherlands. Born, raised and educated in Spain, she moved to North Holland in September 2009. Her art is mainly inspired by her background as a graphic designer of working experience -for almost 20 years- and her educational studies in Fine arts. She is a multidisciplinary artist; her process is continually evolving using different techniques and media from paint and experimental photography to scannography and monoprint, bending realities and abstracts. Her artworks invite you to make your own interpretations. Her works can be found in private collections in USA, UK, Spain, Germany and The Netherlands.

Luca Curci – What is art for you?
Begoña Lafuente – For me, ART is an atemporal conversation where not everything is said, but suggested. The untold meanings are what enrich, puzzle and entrap the interest of the viewer and make a piece unforgettable. I try to use this complicity with you, the beholder, in every artwork. I thoroughly enjoy the process of creation, taking my time to fine-tune colours and shapes: movement and contrasts push and pull each other to create an emotional and visual tension.

LC – What are you currently working on?
BL – I am working on mix media artworks – monoprints – with base on scannography and photography. I love this medium. Its beauty is in its spontaneity of the manual work on top of the pre-planned and digital. The combination of digital, printmaking, painting, collage and drawing makes me feel very comfortable working during the complete process. It allows me to investi- gate and apply all my professional background as an artist and designer. The results are very inspiring and stimulating and all the process is very fun to execute.

LC – Which is the role the artist plays in the society? And contemporary art?
BL – There are several currents going on right now. Some artists intend to raise their voices in favor of human rights as a denouncement of injustice on equality on gender, sexual identity, race, social status… Some others try to give a break to bad news and the monotony of confinement and make people enjoy a different way of thinking and seeing reality. I am more focused on this positive role. Contemporary art is very influenced by new technologies and keeps evolving with new materials and media. Virtual reality gave a chance to participate in visiting museums from home. I see the role of contemporary art as the role of art itself: A continuum in evolution and legacy for future generations through the simple act of complicity in every new view from every new observer in front of a piece.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
BL – I like reading books, watching magazines, going to exhibitions and I love to walk in nature and travelling. Sometimes urban life is very inspiring too.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
BL – Scanning is very fun and immediate, it has infinite and unexpected results, but cleaning the images digitally afterwards is a real nightmare that requires many hours. It is a very meticulous work. Any dust looks like a furry monster. Sometimes texture plays in your favor and some others just don’t. Afterwards, creating new compositions with this material begins to be fun again.

LC – What is your creative process like?
BL – I usually find something pretty in everyday objects to get inspired, then I start very fast drawings, beginning with 1 minute sketches. It helps me to have a general idea, and then I move to longer in time sketches. I make some compositions and look for new things to explore with the scanner. Perspective is gone and relation between objects is very different and every new object can be attractive, the super obviuos becomes abstract, I love playing thit this boundary. Then I need to work on the image on Photoshop. Sometimes I use photographs as well in the composition. In the case of Rotate me Limited I created every piece to be combined and rotated to create once again a composition with other pieces. I take a lot of time finding the perfect equilibrium for the image by itself and the possible combination with others. My intention is that the public become artists when combining the pieces by themselves too.

LC – Are your artworks focused on a specific theme?
BL – I like abstract compositions based on lines and movement. I find the plasticity of botanic elements in contrast with human made objects very attractive.