Elena Alonso

1. What made you choose art as a profession?
It’s not something I chose at any one given moment, although I suppose everything started when I decided to study fine art. At the time I didn’t have a very clear vision of the future or a definition of what this profession was about (and I still try to do without one). The rest was the result of a combination of circumstances, meetings, interests and needs that I’d struggle to put in any kind of order.

2. How would you define your work?
I like the use of the conditional in the question. My statement for 2011 would be:
Most of my work takes the form of drawing. I find this medium helps me think and combine the different aspects to my work. As a practice and method of construction, it is usually present in all my work, regardless of the format I use.

This process is linked to issues I find in the world around me. I think about the growing disillusionment with the world around us and I try to add elements or situations of conflict to normalise it. I like to set fun, handmade work up in contrast to the mass production and consumption of objects and experiences, which characterises both my way of working and the results. In addition, I try to create indeterminate spaces by playing with the specific and the imprecise to try and come up with genuine forms of interiorising and transforming what we are given.

In recent years, I’ve grown closer to methods and forms from architecture and design.

3. What subjects are you interested in?
I think a lot about what we have or create “by default” and about attitudes that go against passively digesting things. When it comes to “subjects”, I’d include everything involved in carrying out a project, starting with the practice of art itself.

4. What resources – formal or otherwise – do you use in your work?
My work process is basically drawing. I see it as a constant medium and a result, but within this process there are times when other needs arise, like other ways of acting or other kinds of materials or spaces. It depends on the case in question, but in general I like working with my hands.

5. What relationship does your work have with reality? What are your raw materials?
I think an artist’s context is key for their work and you can’t cut yourself off entirely from the world around us.

I don’t know if I have any raw materials; I think about the things I like and the things I see as crazy.

6. What, according to you, is the point of art?
I think that’s a very complicated question. I don’t like thinking about it in utilitarian terms, because I think that belongs to the art market. I prefer to think about what it offers or what its consequences are. In my case I go after the possibility that things can be understood or lived in other ways, in helping develop a critical spirit and in general making the world a healthier place.

7. How do you hope the public will receive your work? What audience are you aiming at?
My work plays with several things and there are also open doors. I don’t care whether someone keeps part of the set, because the rest is linked together, but I do hope people stop and enjoy themselves, especially if it sparks a conflict in them.

When I’m immersed in a work process, I think a lot about the vision of a specialist audience I can relate to, because I value their criticism.

8. What qualifications have you got? What do you value most from your time in education?
I’ve got a bachelor’s degree and a master’s, which had a lot of good things about them, but I also value the fact that they were meeting places that have created other forms of learning. Studying and working in other cities like Pontevedra, Stockholm and Helsinki has also given me other perspectives.

I think the key point was how I grew as a person, inside and outside home, because it’s something I think about a lot when I’m working.

9. How would you define your current professional situation? And in the future?
It’s a fairly unstable situation, although I’m happy with the things that have come out of it so far.

In the future, I hope to have more facilities for doing my work in better quality contexts. I’m optimistic…

10. Many artists say it’s difficult to make a living from their work; how do economic considerations affect you when it comes to work? Do you think this has a bearing on your work?
I think it’s a profession full of difficulties, not only economic, but also social, political, cultural… plus the emotional toll of instability.

In my case, I’ve never had to stop anything I was asked to do, but at times I’ve had to adapt to issues of infrastructure or budget.

11. What do you look for or expect from your relationship with promoters and curators? What advantages and difficulties have you found with these relationships?
I hope they’re honest and professional. In general I’ve been very lucky with the people I’ve worked with and I really value their input in helping my work and creating new connections. In some cases, though, I’ve been sad to see people working with interests that are basically peripheral to an artist’s work. I think the ideal relationship is about sharing and dialogue, and delivering balanced rewards and efforts.

12. What do you think sets the arts scene in Madrid apart from elsewhere? What would you say are its pluses and minuses?
I’m not familiar with any other scenes to make a comparison, but the political and economic situation is key, plus the nature of social relationships. I think there’s lots of room for improving the arts situation, from education to managing resources and a longer-term vision.

The positive thing is that there are good foundations of highly qualified people to create a high-quality scene that is still on the move, despite all its difficulties.