Seeking Wisdom With A Local Artist {Inés Batlló}

Artist Inés Batlló’s multifaceted and meaningful art is a relic of another time.

Words By Abby L. Johnson Directed by Ashley Bowling Photo by Eric Morales

Delving into both her personal history and ancient art techniques, artist Inés Batlló looks to the past to bring her creative visions to life.

A rare creator, Inés Batlló is a multimedia artist who uses every tool at her disposal, always looking for new methods to express her ideas. Even something as simple as opening the kitchen cabinet and investigating how to use bleach in her paintings is something she admits to doing. “I have incorporated many techniques into my practice, from software to classical media, dancing between many visual fields including sculptures, television, and theater,” Inés elaborates. 

One such technique is her signature beeswax and resin creations. Drawing inspiration from an ancient tradition known as encaustic painting, an intensely difficult process that involves using melted beeswax infused with pigment to create intricate inlays on a flat surface, Inés cultivated her own personal method that incorporates encaustic painting with figurative art. She explains that as an artist, she uses different media as a tool for communication much the same way a poet may rely on various forms to express their ideas. The choice of material is never arbitrary. She sees herself as a problem solver, almost like a chess player, wrestling to visually express her complexities.

“The universe is in a variety of materials and techniques of the visual arts. From one media to the other, I keep on risking, solving, perceiving, experimenting, and challenging. It is always a dance and a desire to communicate.”

Inés Batlló 

Though she calls East Austin home, Inés grew up in Barcelona. She came to the U.S. in 1994 to study multimedia art. Currently, she works out of her thoughtfully designed backyard studio in Cherrywood, where paintings, which are influenced by her formative years in Spain, are displayed on nearly every wall. She explores the duality of the experiences in the Old and New World and desires to bridge the gap of the Atlantic and bring both parts of her life together. One major impact of this duality is a literal shift in her perspective. Because of Texas’s landscape, for the first time in her life, Inés had the opportunity to see a canyon from above. Inspired by the new vantage point, she began to create work from a bird’s eye view. 

Whether filling up a sketchbook, creating a sculpture, or working on canvas, rich emotion and passion are clearly woven into each carefully crafted piece of art. Inés feels so much for her work that she lives by one rule. “Before [creating], I don’t talk too much about the concept or the final piece,” she shares. Inés believes artists should be free to explore and allow the medium to take them to a place where they create without restriction which, in turn, allows for unfettered communication.

No matter what route Inés takes, the end result is always intuitively meaningful pieces that captivate the viewer and inspire knowledge and creativity. 

During the last few years, Inés found herself in a unique position to travel and collect experiences in Tunisia, Greece, Kenya, and of course, Spain. In Barcelona, she curated an exhibit of figurative art. View her latest works of art and exhibits abroad on instagram. 

Contact:
(512) 784-8145
916 Springdale Rd.
inespaintings.com
@ibatllo