Fused - Archive - Catalina Estrada

Colombian born artist Catalina Estrada’s vibrant, wonderland illustrations are a daydream into dimensions of buoyant colour and fantasy. Her peaceful other-worlds leave the stark devastation of reality far behind as a distant memory in a dreamy atmosphere. She describes her work, whether design, illustration or painting as an emotional experience aiming to convey its dream-like ambiance into her exhibition spaces. The culmination of the pieces together becomes the ultimate expression of her escapism. The undulating shapes, intricate patterns and her manifest appreciation of the natural world are reminiscent of Art Nouveau’s affinity with nature, its forms and spirituality, but is also borne from her childhood experience of living in the mountains and her appreciation of the aesthetics and beauty of nature. Her work is decidedly manga-esque, some characters that feature in her work would be quite at home in the cult Japanese print cartoons.
Trained in Graphic Design at UPB, Colombia, her images are a hybrid of definitive precision and imaginative vision but are underscored with a sense of hope against injustice.

How did you develop your unique style?
I´ve always loved colour, I´ve always loved emotional images, so I guess I put lots of both emotion and colour into every image I create. Some years ago I started doing some volunteer work for foundations in Colombia helping kids with AIDS and kids in Colombia’s countryside. The illustrations I created for them were sort of the beginning of this style I guess, I tried to put lots of colour, love, hope, lots of light in them so that they would really get people’s attention. They worked great so I was really happy with the results. Those were very inspirational projects, and it was sort of the beginning of my illustration career.

Some of your paintings feature cute young girls with Bambi-like deer, surrounded by a very decorative background. Were you always a dreamer?
Yes, absolutely, you couldn’t have said it better. I’ve always been a dreamer and I guess I still am. I love to think about beautiful things, I enjoy creating these beautiful scenes so much and environments where everything is peaceful, colourful and very dreamlike. It´s a way to escape from the sad and terrible news that we have to deal with everyday. It affects me a lot to see so much injustice in this world, so much hate, cruelty and violence. I get really tired of it; I guess I try to get away from that in both my illustrations and my paintings.

What has been the most memorable achievement in your art career?
Each solo exhibition I´ve done so far has been a great achievement for me. I put in lots of effort and I work very hard to create the whole dreamy atmosphere in each gallery or space where I show my work. Once it’s done, when I take a look at the whole room and it feels like each piece is in the right place and the colours fill the room, when it all feels balanced, then it’s the most memorable achievement every time.

Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?
I have obviously been influenced by Latin American art and mostly any form of folk art is very valuable to me. I love art that keep things simple and easy to read, to feel, images that touch you in a certain way either by the colour or the shapes, I love emotional images. Besides folk art I love all the artists and designers from the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and Modernism.
I also love to travel, and I´ve been lucky enough to visit many countries, I guess this has greatly influenced my work in the way that I take a little bit from each place and then put it all together in my art, design, illustration or whatever I do.
Also literature, music, tales, people, my family, my husband, every one of them has influenced my work in a certain way.

Your characters look very manga-esque?
Yes, I love manga; I have a big respect and admiration for it! Also my father used to work for Japanese companies for 26 years, and during my childhood he travelled a lot to Japan and every time he would come back from his trips with cute magazines, art prints, and really nice books that were really inspiring for me.

Catalina is currently putting together work for a show in Barcelona.
Check www.katika.net for more information.