IB Visual Arts LINCOLN SCHOOL Costa Rica: ALEJANDRA MATAMOROS IB Art Lincoln School Costa Rica 2015

THE ARTIST STATEMENT

Alejandra Villalobos

While researching, I came across the famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s book The Birth of Tragedy in which he explores the dualism between two opposing forces, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The Apollonian refers to all the physical constructions in attempt to cover the natural and dark aspects of humans, represented by the Dionysian. This way, I was able to see how there was also a dualist conflict in myself; a battle between reason and emotion. This is why through the process of IB Visual Arts, I was interested in unchaining the freedom of expressing emotions against reason.

Expressionism is the art movement I found to relate the most. Artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Vasily Kandinsky inspired my artworks. I took the ideas of swirls, high contrast, distorted figures and spontaneous brushstrokes to echo my psychological thoughts which where always linked to my emotions. I also learned through this process that the best of my ideas were not pre-mediated; I worked best when I was freeing my mind from censorship.

I was able to work with different mediums and techniques such as acrylics, oils, India ink, linocut and pigment liners. This way, I discovered that one of my strengths is the use of color and contrast. Even though the medium I felt most comfortable with was with pigment liners, acrylics gave me the opportunity to work at a larger scale.