10 Questions with Zaira Ballesteros

Zaira Ballesteros was born in Mexico, and she is an emerging artist and actress. She trained in acting and performing arts in Mexico City, at Casa Azul, Argos Televisión. She worked as an actress for several years in Mexico before dedicating herself to painting. She has always been attracted to the world of art. Her artistic career in both the scenic and visual worlds takes place between Barcelona, Mexico City, and Brussels. She has found a common language between theater and painting. In her words, painting and acting are different in their technique, but they reach the same place, expressing the human experience. Although I initially took a different professional path, the connection with painting has always been there. Self-taught in multiple media, she loves to travel and takes inspiration from the places and people she has met; it has made her change her perception of what life is. She has exhibited her work in several galleries and art fairs in Barcelona.

zairaballesteros.my.canva.site | @zay_atelier

ARTIST STATEMENT

Zaira's work is a reflection of her inner world, which encapsulates her deep thoughts and emotions. Through her creations, you can perceive her insatiable curiosity about the world and see her imagination. She is interested in human emotions, hidden emotions, silence, solitude, the unknown, and desire. Right now, she is experimenting with figurative works related to human emotions. She has traveled all her life, and the places and people she has met have changed her perception of what life is.

Now, she is living in Barcelona and has experienced a deep connection with the sea, the deep blue, and her abstract work has changed because of it. Silhouettes, auras, and mysterious lights of nature can be found in her paintings.

In Zaira's words: Since embarking on this artistic journey, the desire to create art became a relentless obligation to explore the inner practice of her creative consciousness. From small sketches to large-scale projects, art is truly a personal reflection of itself. The objective of her work is to make the invisible (emotions, feelings, etc.) visible.

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with images?

I am Zaira Ballesteros, an emerging artist. My work focuses on both abstract and figurative painting. The main themes of my work are the sea and water, but now I am experimenting with figurative art related to human emotions. I was born in Morelia, a city near Mexico City. Since I was a child, I have had an inclination towards art. I studied dramatic arts at Casa Azul, Argos Television in Mexico City before dedicating myself to painting in 2015.
I was a member of the Theatrical Laboratory "L'Artes", which is based on the Grotowski method. The laboratory deeply influenced my creative process for both dramatic and visual art. Grotowski's technique is based on using your senses, feelings, and imagination. It is in this laboratory that I understood that art has a connection with the deep, the useful, and the mysterious. It is a constant refuge that allows me to develop my creativity. I have also worked for many years with various theater companies and directors across Mexico. In 2014, I moved to Brussels, Belgium, where my curiosity for art led me to paint.
I started self-teaching myself, painting, and taking art classes. Being self-taught is important to me because it gives me freedom, and when it comes to creating, I can do it organically.
My apartment in Barcelona is where I generally work. What I enjoy most when painting is that time disappears and flows, giving me a feeling of freedom.

How did your background as an actress influence your transition into painting? Can you describe the connection you see between acting and painting in expressing the human experience?

Dramatic art and painting are like two different languages, but in the end, they express the same ideas and communicate the same concepts.
That is to say, in my figurative painting work, there is usually a central character who is missing something and is incomplete. Characters in the theatrical world also suffer from the lack of something, a conflict, an obstacle, or more than one. Or a necessity, a desire. In Buddhism it is believed that desire is the cause of suffering.
Because it is from need or desire that human emotions arise: anger, anxiety, sadness, happiness, illusion, rage. I am interested in catharsis, the moment when the character realizes that he/she is dissatisfied, something changes in him/her, in their inner being. Therefore, they prepare to fight to achieve their desire.
Dramatic art sensitized my senses. It is where I begin; it is the base from which I start to create images; at the end of the day, both in dramatic art and in visual art, there is a story to tell.

Your work explores emotions, solitude, and the unknown. How do these themes shape your creative process?

I am inspired by these themes because they are states that every human being has experienced and that connect you with other people.
"The unknown: Death and birth. Religions" have been created to give us answers about the unknown, but there is no scientific evidence about what happens after death. The mystery of life itself inspires me as a base from which I can explore.
On the other hand: human emotions. We are always in constant change. I like to focus on the eyes; how someone is staring is a reflection of what the character is experiencing, and it is usually the center of my composition.

How has your lifelong travel influenced your perception of life and your art?

The perception of life is different, because life is different depending on where you live in the world. Religion and customs create differences. You can observe so many ways of thinking and they are all valid. Traveling has given me the perspective to understand that nothing is wrong; it has also given me patience, and patience is very important when painting. Cultivating patience can take years, you have to be patient in your process and trust in it. The stories you hear from people influence your work. In general, it nourishes me when it comes to imagining; I have so many possibilities to create from what I hear and see. When you travel, you put yourself in a constant challenge because you are not in your comfort zone. You develop mechanisms to adapt. In art, it's the same: leaving your comfort zone has opened the door to infinite possibilities to create.

What impact has living in Barcelona and your connection to the sea had on your recent works?

Living in Barcelona, so close to the sea, gives me calm. Barcelona is very busy with tourists, but when you go to the sea, everything slows down, and that has given me inner peace. I began to have a connection with nature. I like to think of my abstract paintings inspired by nature as a return to human roots, to the core. Water is the element of life. We need water to live and stay alive. So, going back to the beginning, where life began.
The sea in my work creates an enveloping environment in my composition. I like to imagine my abstract painting as a visual journey.

You describe art as making the invisible visible. Can you elaborate on how you approach this in your paintings?

For me, the invisible are human emotions: anger, rage, resentment, illusion, hope, etc., etc. and I like to think that in my paintings, I make them visible. In my figurative painting, I focus on the gaze; everything that is happening in my character is happening in their gaze. This is the invisible, whatever is not palpable. For example: you cannot touch resentment, so the idea of resentment is transmitted in the gaze.
On the other hand, in my abstract work, I like to paint glazes of color that resemble auras, the energy of evaporated water. The subtle painting is the energy of the sun touching the water.
I also believe that painting is an art par excellence. When you look at a work of art, in a second, your brain already structures an idea, a story; in a second, you have already given an involuntary meaning to what you are seeing. In a second, the set of stains that make up the painting create meaning, and something hidden is revealed to the viewer.

Your current figurative work focuses on human emotions. What draws you to this theme, and how do you capture it visually?

I am attracted to what makes us human. We can empathize with human emotions. In my work, I capture it visually in the gaze; I love the expression of the eyes. I believe that it is easy to lie with words, but it is difficult to lie with your eyes. In the gaze I can observe the needs of the character. Usually the eyes are the center of my composition. Emotions make us relate to each other and also to our environment. They are very powerful.

How does your self-taught journey in painting shape your style and artistic identity?

For me, being self-taught has given me freedom when it comes to creating; it has helped me find my own voice, my own style, and my own universe. I think that all paths are correct, but for me in particular, learning gradually and without any kind of objective helped me to be more organic in my work and to be very focused when it comes to criticism. My acting career helped me not judge and, above all, not judge my work, to not pretend; I think I am a little more authentic.

Can you share a specific place or experience that profoundly influenced one of your artworks?

The work that I titled "Barco. í" In Barcelona, I was walking along the beach, looking at the immense sea, I began to imagine a boat that only one person could travel in, a very small boat. After having rowed for a long time, they stop to look at the immensity of the sea, thinking: it is impossible to cross the sea because it is immense. A doubt arises: will I be able to achieve it? The character begins to plan a strategy, but their body is tired, and they cannot go on. I remember how many times in my life I have thought that I will not be able to do what I want, and I think that any person has gone through something like that, the problem is bigger than you, or at that moment you see it as insurmountable. In my work, my character stops, observes, and waits.

And lastly, what are your plans for future projects or themes you’d like to explore?

I am currently working on a series of works; I have already done two about women in war. My inspiration is the Middle East, but I also want to include Mexico and Ukraine. The idea is to look at the perspectives of women in war, because I think they sometimes lose prominence. Without feminist overtones, that is not the discourse of my work. I would only like to explore the suffering of women in war; in particular, in my country, there is a very overwhelming silence, and the victims do not speak out of fear. I am thinking of doing a figurative painting for this series.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.