Alejandra de la Torre

Intrigued by my own somewhat surprising attachment to material possessions, I became curious about the relationship between people and the objects that surround us. The focal point of my investigation pertained to the question of what constitutes as mere ‘possession’ of objects, and the point where evolves into an ‘obsession’. Of particular interest was the highly subjective, often discussed question of what is considered normal, and whether there is a need to redefine the parameters between one thing and another. Assessing this subject in a general way I analysed the various forms of, and motives for accumulating possessions by focusing on the daily acts of people, such as the preservation of memories to the hobby of collecting. In addition to having the object as the central theme of my work, I also employ it as a narrative element to speak and discuss other topics that are of interest to me. Attachment, accumulation, fear of emptiness, obsession and the concept of possession and memory are all key words of my works. By using paint as my foundational medium, and combining it with an array of alternate techniques such as drawing, screen printing, transfer and even the presence of physical objects, I endeavour to create an intermeshing of elements and techniques which feed off each other to guide the viewer’s gaze. This is further enhanced through the use of common materials such as stationary, notebooks and paper which brings that touch of everyday life to the piece. Born in Castellon, Spain, Alejandra graduated from the Polytechnic University of Valencia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2007. She was the beneficiary of an Erasmus grant which permitted her to spend the 2005/06 academic year studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon. In addition to obtaining her undergraduate qualifications, Alejandra also attained a Masters Degree in Artistic Production from the Polytechnic University of Valencia in 2012. Most recently, she has completed a Postgraduate qualification in ‘Illustration applied to design’ from the IDEP School of Barcelona in 2019. Throughout her professional career, she has been the beneficiary of an array of different scholarships including but not limited to; the ‘Habitat artistic’ scholarship from the City Council of Castellon (in both 2012 and 2018), the 3CMCV scholarship from the Valencia Community Museum Consortium (in 2015), and a scholarship from the Polytechnic University of Valencia for collaboration with the paint department (in 2015). Her work is focused around the plastic arts however she aims to develop them with different languages, ranging from street-art to video-pictorial installation. The central theme of her most recent work relates to objects and the bond that is created between them and humans, notably the need to possess and accumulate ‘things’, in addition to reified memories and the pàssing of time. Whilst her work is focused on these themes, she employs them as a narrative element to discuss and deal with other topics of interest, rather than simply discussing the object itself. Since 2003 she has been an active participant in individual and collective exhibitions within cities of Spain, Germany, Portugal and the United States. She has also participated in some art fairs such as; “Marte” in Castellon de la Plana (in both 2015 and 2019), the Hybrid Art Festival in Madrid, and as a representative of the Polytechnic University of Valencia at the Ikas-Art in Bilbao (in 2011). Her works are in private collections all around Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Germany, the United States, and also feature as the art collection of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the City Council of Castellon and Valencia.