Today we’d like to introduce you to Beláxis Buil.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My family roots were heavily embedded in the arts. On my father’s side there was history in performance, music and literature while on my mother’s side it was painting and fashion.
It was particularly my grandmother who impacted my calling: I was not to run away from it but own it. I admired her fervor and dedication to her writings and published book on poetry and stories she later on went reciting at Universities throughout the United States during the 60’s.
Likewise she spoke with so much pride when retelling stories of her travels as a performer, and songstress.
Although my upbringing was pretty sheltered and scholarly ( because my father after all did not encourage the artist life), was filled with dance and music since we performed on stage from a young age. Much of these performances were associated to church but all in all, we turned up the notch and turned heads when we performed. The Buil Blood was intoxicated in the arts.
Eventually I left home at a young age, modeled, met bohemian folks who loved my paintings ( and presented at their gallery in Coral Gables), and everything just fell in place. No matter how much my father had tried to discourage me from a “worldly” career… it just found me. The ironic part is, well, the funny thing about this story is I had no idea that I was a performer or better stated, a performance artist. It wasn’t until I made my way to New World School of the Arts that a student in one of my classes blurted out he had been following my work and seen me perform at various galleries. It was he who pointed out to me was a performance artist and helped shape the rest of my journey. It was thenI realized why my grandmother’s story resonated with me as a child.
Please tell us about your art.
My work is interdisciplinary. I work in sculpture, painting, installation, video, sound compositions, dance.. it is really whatever medium I conclude that will best fit the idea.
People assume my ideas stem from a performative place but this is not so.
I am a conceptual artist. I am an artist who works with form, space and the relationships and tensions that exist between them.
In my case, since I am a woman with a rich, complex, interesting history and perspective, I choose to make the form in space myself- but also thinking about the space when I subtract myself. I think of myself in the environment as an object and what that may look like from an absurdist point of view. I choose to present from an absurdist vantage point. There is always something strange and funny about my work which is why Greek Tragedy or Comedy is a good why to fit itnto a broader understanding for viewers. I create environements and insert myself and others into it and therefore immerse the viewer into a space loaded with haptic enconters, and the visceral to overload all the senses. I want my audience despite gender, race, or cultural background to understand my message.
I mentioned before that I work on the premise of space and form, so my approach is formal and my aesthetic is raw: but I can’t stop myself from conceptually commenting on social issues within the content of the work. I must inject the work with perspectives that I intuit will shift someone elses.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
Hmmmmmm, that is a great question. You know I love being a lone wolf. I love solitude, quietness, reflecting. I never feel lonely… I love it.
I also spend time with my amazing daughter who is the best person I have ever met.
My idea of fun and socialising advice to others: go horseback riding, go find a ( Real) Buddhist temple to chant with peaceful warriors, or go to the library.
A glass of wine with older, elder friends is cool too.
The right artist’s and people will come your way. Don’t go looking for it.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I feel pretty lucky that people like to write about my work! It makes me so happy to see critics and curators passing on their comments on pieces they have seen, that moved them and wanted to share with the public.
This year has been victorious with exhibitions.
Coming up in the near future is: a group show curated by Rosie Wallace- Gordon at the Cocoran Art Museum in Washinton D.C. ( Washington State University and, during ArtiFairiti, 2018. The latter is a huge art exhibition and festival that takes place in the liberated regions of the Western Sahara and is organized by Fico Guzmán inside the refugee camps.
There are a few more in the line-up but I will keep it minimal for now!
People can see my work online at:
www.belaxisbuil.net
Social media: Instagram on my visual arts page and personal story page
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.belaxisbuil.net
- Email: belaxisb@yahoo.com
- Instagram: Beláxis Buil ( Visual Arts Page and Personal Story Page)
- Twitter: BelaxisBuil
- Other: BelaxisBuil.blogspot.Curatorial Projects
Image Credit:
Photo credit of the black and white portrait ( with bow) Dwayne Tucker
All rest courtesy of artist: Beláxis Buil
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