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Inés Maestre, is a visual artist. She works with the representation of images that blur the boundaries between analogue and digital production. Her work combines various media such as collage, digital painting, oil painting, scanning, airbrushing and photography. In her most recent work, Inés has developed a pictorial and narrative language in which themes such as love and desire, pop culture, social clichés and sexuality are intertwined. In her dreamlike universe the artist reveals her own history, leaving intimate clues that form a narrative that speaks of her personal life and her concerns about the problems of her generation and the current context. Inés has exhibited in galleries and museums in the UK, Spain, France, USA and Switzerland, and her work has been featured in Vogue, Paper Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Hypebeast and It’s Nice That, among others.
Hi Inés! It’s a pleasure sit down with you. First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in Zürich or Madrid or NYC
The pleasure is mine, I’m very happy that we can have this conversation. Thank you for that!
The fact is that in the last few months I have been moving around a lot, so I don’t feel settled in any particular place. But I still make sure to have similar routines even if I’m on different continents. Let’s say that a regular day for me always has a long breakfast. I think the time you spend having breakfast is proportional to happiness. And I get to work, whether I’m doing emails, painting, preps, working on projects… I usually take breaks to do yoga and go for a run. I get really overwhelmed by feeling like I’m not moving. If the day gives me time, I like to go out for coffee or dinner or a drink to clear my head. And end the day either reading or watching tiktok or whatever is on at the time. Nothing too out of the ordinary.
Why is it that you move around so much and don’t find yourself based in a particular place? What is the reason for the nomadic way of living? And how do you manage to go back and forth from one to another?
I love it. I think to move between places suits me very well. I feel like there are always things to do and it gives me a lot of energy. At the same time, I’m looking forward to settling down a bit and having a fixed place and studio where I can produce (but not for too long ha,ha).
I’m curious. Growing up, what kind of kid were you? What did you enjoy doing and how did you spend your time?
I think I was a bit weird. I am an only child so I remember being alone a lot of times. I made up friends, siblings, dogs, cats… whatever it was that I couldn’t have at that time. I really liked to make up stories about being grown up and imagining everything. Now that I think about it, I find it interesting that when I was little, reality and imagination were linked much closer to each other.
Do you remember how old you were and how you got introduced to the different graphic design programs? And which programs do you use now?
Totally. I often think about it. When I was in high school we used Fotolog in Spain and I think it also existed in other countries. It was a kind of social media where you could upload a photo with a text every day. I remember that I used to make some crazy edits with my pictures. I used weird programs to add graphics, effects and make my eyes greener and bigger boobs hahaha. I think it all started there.
After that I discovered photoshop and haven’t stopped since then.
What is it about digital art, that makes it your prefered medium of expressing yourself?
I think one part I really like about it is the flexibility it gives me, as I can work from anywhere, I just need my laptop and tablet. But also I’m excited about the results that can be achieved just with that, there’s something about the process that really appeals to me. But in any case, I believe it’s very important as well to exercise getting the work out of the screen.
With that in mind, I know that you actually also make oil paintings. How did you get introduced to regular painting?
I have always loved painting. Since I was a child, art was my favourite subject. At some point my parents enrolled me in extracurricular painting classes and I guess that’s where I started to learn some techniques.
Nowadays, I could say that it’s more of a support medium to digital painting for me.
Can you tell me about your connection between various fields. What’s your connection to the interrelation between disciplines as well as techniques?
Over time I’ve realised that my position as an artist, as a creative, even as a person myself, has always navigated between various sectors, techniques, cities, audiences…. I believe that in my practice and in the way I situate my work in this world it is important to blur those boundaries. And not to stay or pick only on one side of the coin.
For example, I studied design but I ended up doing art, but I don’t sell my art just for the money, I do commercial art and work with brands, I do oil painting but also digital, I have an artistic duo with my friend Sara Bastai in which we mix painting and photography… a long list of contradictions that sometimes are not well seen in the same package, but that works for me and in my opinion, they make sense with the discourse I’m putting together.
What’s your inspiration behind the various surreal scenes and motifs in your work? And how do you come up with them?
It’s funny, they are generally all related to moments in my life. I transfer my thoughts, experiences and feelings into paintings and try to make sense of them using other resources. For me symbolism and pop culture are key in my work. Through the use of specific objects or animals I can talk about particular issues, or by using a certain pop star or actor I can talk about other situations or feelings, as we inevitably connect them with certain themes.
In the end I am writing a story, and all the motifs I leave on the canvas or in the images are the clues to read them.
What are you hoping to convey?
I think I want people to be able to identify with me and my experiences in some way. I hope they can read between the lines, that they see their lives and experiences reflected in the stories I tell. I want it to be a support in the way people see and face life. The fact of representing it in some way can give a sense of companionship.
That’s why I think it’s important for me to make art in a very accessible way, because I need people to be able to approach it.
Your work have been featured in some big name magazines, such as Hypeart, Paper Magazine, c41, and King Kong Magazine to name a few. What’s that experience like, seeing your work in such renowned publications?
It’s very exciting because thanks to these kinds of platforms and media the work I do reaches more places. I am very grateful to the people who have been hooked on my work and have encouraged me by giving me the opportunity to work with them or to show my work in these kinds of magazines or media. I think it is one of the ways that makes it easier to be part of the visual language that is being shaped in our present.
Can you walk me through your creative process. From beginning, to end result?
My creative process usually starts with an idea, a feeling, or a thought that I want to talk about. I generally work with notes that I build up. From there I start looking for ways to represent it, by means of characters, songs, symbols, colours… until I come up with a scene. I’m constantly taking pictures of things. I’m always going to libraries, book shops, museums… to look for images. I have a huge archive of images. I am interested in ways of representation in general. Why have we decided to represent the pure for example with a white flower or the resurrection with a fish? It is these connections between the material and the immaterial that fascinate me.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of going through it until an image clicks and from there I start composing. Sometimes I draft different scenes and then I put them together. I add other elements that make sense to the story. Until I get a kind of “collage”. From there I do the digital work until I have a result that I like. Then I print a part on canvas or linen cloth, depending on the piece. And then I finish the piece with oil paint and mediums.
Can you also tell me about your use of symbolism?
I believe that the symbol is the universal language that we all share. It seems to me such a direct and yet indirect way of communicating something. It’s like speaking a language that your subconscious understands.
How do you deal with creative blocks?
Pretty bad. It’s frustrating and sadly I’ve tended to beat myself up when something doesn’t go the way I want it to go, or the way I expect it to go.
Little by little I’m understanding that this is not the way, and that creative blocks are necessary to stop, to look elsewhere, to get perspective and to get out of that creative bubble in which we think that what we do is the centre of everything. For me it is always good to take walks, go to museums I like or visit libraries.
Anybody you look up to?
Many people,I could not tell you just one. I believe that to admire is a great power. Thanks to the fact that other people have opened paths for us, we can be there now, opening others paths for those to come, I hope.
I think I have always been inspired by characters or personalities that were not meant for me but I didn’t realise it at the time.
Nowadays I am inspired by women artists with whom I consider that we share a similar path but often I also look with admiration at my neighbour, who has a quiet life and is able to find peace in the little things.
What motivates you?
I am motivated by life. Changing places, meeting people, living experiences, falling down a million times and getting up again. Living intensely is my great motivation. Following the stereotype that artists love intensity.
How would you describe a perfect day?
Ha,ha I love this question. I think I could have a perfect day where I wake up early, do yoga and meditation, have a meeting about an interesting project, eat with a close friend a delicious meal with a glass of wine, go to the studio and work on a project I am excited about. Maybe listen to the new album of my favorite band or some cool podcast, and finish the day going to the cinema to watch a great movie and eating some delicious popcorn. But also my perfect day is getting up late, having breakfast and going back to bed, doing some online shopping, and wasting my time with pride. Ha,ha. I love it.
Any future projects coming up?
Yayy, I have some exhibitions coming up in the next few months, and some nice projects related to music and art.
Alright Inés. I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
It is a hard one. I have so many favourite films. I’m a big movie buff. I guess I’m going to go for the one of those that have left the biggest mark on me. Trainspotting. It’s not the best, nor the one I would choose right now, and again I don’t think it was addressed to me. But the moment I watched it, when I was a teenager, it changed my perception of life.
The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now?
I am listening to Erika de Casier’s new album non-stop.
Profile picture by: Mindaugas Matulis