Dr Susana Fernandez Blanco

STATEMENT OF SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE INTERESTS

My academic interests are focused on two areas that share many things in common:  Fine Arts and Graphic Design.

After finishing the research for my doctoral thesis on the use of beeswax in the Fine Arts, I became interested in the question of sustainability regarding the different materials and media used by artists and whether their workspaces are safe for the environment and for the artists themselves.

In the last few years, there has been a tendency to revive ancient agricultural and livestock techniques to achieve a more ecological and sustainable environment. I believe that artists should be an example of sustainability and that further research should be undertaken regarding the materials and supplies artists use.

After my experience working as an artist in Saudi Arabia, a country that lacks many natural resources and imports most products, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, I had severe difficulties accessing the materials I needed. It was then that I realised the great necessity of researching the resources available in every country. I contacted many artists who shared my concerns, and we founded a research group of artists to see what supplies might be found within Saudi Arabia. We are currently concentrating on finding native pigments in the Abha region. I want to encourage more chemistry, biology and art supplies experts to join us and expand our search to other Middle Eastern countries.

I am a firm believer in the possibility of finding ways to use more sustainable materials in art. Most artists are concerned about the environment but don´t have the necessary information to work more closely with their surroundings. This is where my development as a graphic artist comes into play.

I have been training to find ways to clarify and improve the dissemination of all the information I have seen so that I can share it with my students and anyone else interested in my research projects. Virtual collaboration, research into new technologies and techniques, and developing my artistic voice are the best ways I have found to transmit this knowledge. I believe it is more important to share acquired knowledge to affect some degree of change in our world than to restrict this information to a small group of experts.

I constantly work to bring my students professional and real-life experience. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have found numerous new varieties of virtual communication, many of which have proven more efficient than other interpersonal communication, although I still prefer the latter. I always search for innovative teaching techniques to help my students become highly qualified artists and designers. At the same time, this makes me a more valuable teacher and a guaranteed source of worthwhile training for my students.

My recent studies focus on gaining knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and its applications in education and art. I am also acquiring knowledge about 3D printing, as sculpture is another specialisation that greatly interests me.

As regards my statement of creative interest as an artist, after many years of exploring various painting techniques, I am currently concentrating on the encaustic technique, which uses beeswax. It is one of the oldest techniques but is unknown to most people. I love researching and experimenting with painting techniques. I next intend to deepen my knowledge of egg tempera, a sustainable and readily available material. My paintings use bright, vibrant colours. As a nature lover, I delight in playing with organic imagery that relates to my feelings and experiences, with contrasts and almost baroque movements.

I believe it is important to paint with intention, but I'm not eager to overthink the painting process. I prefer to trust my feelings and use a more visceral or intuitive approach rather than a more deliberate one. My work is based on sensations. I seek a synthesis of texture and form, a visual synthesis. I am passionate about observing, loving living, and keeping hold of the emotions awakened by what I have watched and loved. It becomes a memory of nature, based not on reason or narrative but on expressive memory and sensorial dramaturgy.

I greatly respect drawing for its capacity to create space and the fact that every artist has a recognisable, individual drawing gesture and style.

My painting falls between a representation of reality and the pure construction of volumes. Heavy, rounded, rough or smooth stones possess almost tactile qualities. Seas and skies are rarely straightforward and blue; when they are, they look like they have been painted with impossible colours. They are consistently imbued with some sense of melancholy or threat. The sea is anxious and wild but always in repose. Within its immense, contained energy, anything can happen.

I paint from necessity, from a desire to communicate. My greatest need for expression is to search for the most profound possible communication. When I discover something that interests me, I love to share it – how could I be so selfish as to keep it for myself alone? This is perhaps one of my strongest motivations for teaching.

I have an incredible appetite for learning. Working and researching in a university setting has been even more enriching because of the opportunity to connect and collaborate with experts from other fields of knowledge.