“I think the world is going to be completely polarized…”
Name
Emma Llorente Palacio
Profession
Artist
Website
Who are you? What do you do?
I am a designer by training, but I have decided to dedicate myself to art. I am currently investigating topics about the connection with the body, life cycles, reproduction and the receptive of the feminine. I do the research through a material practice with the clay where I recover the ancestral and magical of the art.
Where are you from?
I’m from Barcelona, but my both parents are from the north of Spain, that’s why I feel very connected with the Atlantic.
Your style in 3 words?
Spiritual, ancestral and mysterious.
Your weakness? Your strength?
I’m naive and clueless / I’m intuitive and sensitive.
What makes you different?
My fingerprint.
When did you decide to become an artist?
Halfway through my university studies in Design I realized that my profile as a creative did not fit into that curriculum. I thought about changing to Fine Arts, but in the end I stayed in Design and decided to start my own artistic path. I am very happy with the decision, the career in design has provided me with very useful tools and technical knowledge.
What do you find most fascinating about your work?
Tell stories through objects.
A few words about your favourite creation?
There are some words that my friend Marta Camps wrote for my last exhibition:
“Her work, characterized by an understanding of life cycles, proposes new ways of recovering the connection with our body in a world that constantly distances us from its rhythms and latencies. The exhibition (…), is a journey through the body, the delivery, the detachment, and the flow of life through an intuitive and honest material dialogue.”
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
Louise Bourgeoise, Kiki Smith, Alberto and Diego Giacometti, Nacho Carbonell, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Chagall, Hilma Af Klint, Fina Miralles, Haruki Murakami, Tim Burton and Santiago Ramon y Cajal.
Who would you like to work with someday and why?
Kiki Smith…I think we share the same mystical world of fantasies and visions.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
I am currently exhibiting my latest creations until September at the H2o Gallery in Barcelona. For my next artistic project I’m investigating on the art in the Neolithic and the Paleolithic and the relation that it has with the religion of the first farmers. The first farmers (the first sedentary societies) generated an endless number of ritual objects (vessels, masks, altars, figurines, etc.) that they used to invoke the rain. This is what obsesses me now.
Finish the sentence “ More important than my career is…“
Health…but I am convinced that I maintain my health through my artistic practice, and the day i can’t continue working on my art (I hope this day never comes) I will get sick.
2020: Where are we going?
to 2021.
When the going gets tough…
I lock myself at home, I sleep a lot, I take baths with essential oils, I eat, I read and the most important part, I put the phone in airplane mode.
Your city’s favourite spots?
I like to walk the same street (Paseo de Sant Joan) up and down over and over while I listen to music, I never get tired of it. Paseo de Sant Joan is one of the main streets of Barcelona, it joins two districts and for me it is the vertical column of the city.
Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?
I think the world is going to be completely polarized. As I see it, there will be a part of society (the majority) concentrated in overcrowded and technological cities. And the other part of society (a minority) will have given up on this and retired to a more organic and natural life where they will be self-sufficient. If I continue alive I will be with the last ones.
What would you do if you could change the World?
Change the education system. Encourage alternative education methodologies like Waldorf, Montessori or Reggio-Emilia. I would also change consumption and eating habits of society.
If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
Into something unknown.
Tell us about your future plans…
I want to apply to scholarships and residencies for artistic research and production to be able to travel while I work and at the the same time discover new people and places to grow as a human being and artist. I also want to learn wood work to apply in my creations.
Last but not least: what is your favourite Song?
Any of The Smiths, Norah Jones, Florence and the machine, Manolo Garcia, Bon Iver or Patti Smith, now I’m listening Little Lies from Fleetwood Mac.
One last statement please: “Wood or stone, gold or art?“
Wood and stone, gold and art.
Your #…?
#magic and emma.ll.palacio
