Oaia Peruarena: when art isn’t an end but instead a means to explore the world
Oaia Peruarena: when art isn’t an end but instead a means to explore the world
Oaia Peruarena is one of the prominent names on the contemporary Basque cultural scene. Born in Irun, Gipuzkoa, she soon became interested in drawing and painting. In her beginnings, it was the landscape paintings and the perspective of the great Impressionists and Post-Impressionists such as Cézanne, Monet, and Van Gogh, among others, that inspired her. She received classes from artists such as Tomás Sobrino (Elizondo) and José Mari Apezetxea (Erratzu), both members of what is known as the Bidasoa School.
After several years in which her work focused on the landscape that surrounded her, she began to feel a certain dissatisfaction which pushed her to look for another way of expressing herself that would offer her a broader scope. It was during a visit to the Reina Sofía Museum that she first came across the work of the Segovian artist Esteban Vicente, which made a great impact on her – and it was from that moment on that she became interested in abstraction. More specifically, she was interested in American Abstract Expressionism, especially Joan Mitchell.
Thus, her artwork became more abstract, with the artist seeking to express herself more freely, turning painting into a channel for the expression of her being. As a result, she got paintings of great intensity in which the strength of the red, the luminosity of the yellow, and the depth of the blue are applied by means of large strokes in which the material abounds. She uses oils, acrylics, and waxes, as well as blank canvases, papers, and fabrics. In her own words: “Art is a way of discovering the world around us, as well as oneself, in which the artistic piece ceases to be an objective and becomes a field of experimentation. It is from this stance that play and curiosity make it possible for new things to happen.”
Her work is part of private collections in the United States, Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, etc. Likewise, numerous public institutions (the Regional Government of Gipuzkoa and the San Telmo Museum, among others) have acquired her masterpieces to complete their collections. This year, her paintings can be seen in numerous exhibitions: until February 12 in a solo exhibition at the Citadel of Pamplona; during the summer simultaneously at the Ekain and Arteztu galleries of San Sebastián, as part of an exhibition that includes her work – the result of a collaborative effort with photographer Patxi Laskarai; and from October in a solo exhibition in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. At the same time, the artist opens her studio in Bera (Navarre) to anyone interested in learning about her work.
Oaia Peruarena Tellechea
Tel.: +34 615 301 568
Photograph: Patxi Laskarai.
