BEATRIZ SIMON
“Stop and amaze yourself by who you really are and by what surrounds you.”
Beatriz Simón is a Mexican-born artist, whose work combines her interest in self fulfillment and of one’s self search with her very personal mix of techniques and materials. Beatriz Simón works with a variety of mediums in order to build her creations and strengthen her personal artistic search. Originally trained as a painter, Simón has now expanded her repertoire to include found object sculpture, plaster sculpture, performance art, photography, video, and graphic design.
Simón’s artistic process separates her from other artists. Simón’s work calls for self reflection and acceptance. Simón believes that the imaginary perfection created by society through expectations and myths is not something to admire. The quest for social acceptance has alienated the human being from real and basic interpersonal relationships, like family and friends. Simon seeks to create a detachment from these alienating beliefs.
True to the nature of abstract art, Simón’s art invites multiple interpretations. Although her work is abstract, the human is ever present. Her works are human expressions with proof of human presence through hands, dripping, handwriting, imperfection, scratching, and improvisation. All elements of the painting tell the story of the person who created it. How Simón constructs her art is a metaphor for how a person builds themselves.
Just as the human being is made up of various elements, so are Simón’s paintings. She mixes mediums, layers, and expressive movements in order to create works that are made of very different elements that, if extracting one from another, would not have the same sense of fullness and finish as the whole thing together. The elements she uses also represent her drive for human construction. For instance, her “mescal” (a type of Mexican textile) bags go through a particular process. It lies for ten days in the sun in order to extract the best part of it. The inside becomes the outside. Humans can also introspect and take the best from the inside, in order to ameliorate the outside.
Circles are also part of her perennial aesthetical figurations. The shape allows for numerous possibilities and does not corner itself with precise angles. It is a symbol of union and infinity. It is a radiant form, vibrant with energy because of the direct relation to the sun. Simón sees the circle as something revitalizing, in constant movement, changing and adapting. As a movement itself, it is also very free and full of energy. The circle is, reminiscent of Simón’s point of view of humans, perfect in its imperfection. Even if the artist’s hand does not draw it as a compass would, it still keeps its strength. The circle is also the symbol of a womb, a cherished subject by the artist.
A reoccurring symbol in her work is that of creating life by the act of birth. She paints a mother with her arms crossed as though carrying a baby. It makes reference to the importance of this act itself, of becoming a parent. She captures the act of nurturing, caring, and protecting another human being, not out of self-interest or pride, but out of simple human instinct. It is both a human and a beautiful thing, an act no exterior influence can take away from us.
A recent and one of her most intriguing symbols is a shelf. The shelf is used as a metaphor to the human mind. Opened and closed compartments parallel to used and forgotten memories by people. The negation and refusal of any of those drawers and what they contain is a refusal of self, because they constitute that person. No matter the past, it is part of one, endlessly modifying and influencing the person.
“Embrace yourself and everything that constitutes you, because no matter what, it is you. You are made of various elements from which you can gain experience and personality. Accept it. Rebuild it. Re-flourish it. And enjoy it. Can’t we, as Lennon might say, 'Let It Be' or; let yourself be yourself.”
ON THE WALL: Inside the Artist's Studio
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