Sonia Pulido – The interview!

SoniaPulido_autorretrato
When Sonia Pulido was little, colouring pencils were amongst her first companions, and they haven’t parted ever since. Her professional career jumped from illustration to comic strips, a career marked by prizes: in 2006 she won the 1st Illustration Award Joves creadors de Barcelona, of the Universidad de Barcelona; in 1997 she participated in the VII Biennal of Young Artists (Cable Factory, Sea Cable Hall, Helsinki), and in the VIII Bienal de joves creadors d’Europa i del Mediterrani (Torí, 97). In 1999 she took part in the XV Bienal de Ibiza Ibizagrafic’99, in the Museo Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo in Ibiza. In 2002 she won the 1st Injuve Illustration prize, and in 2008 she was shortlisted for the Young Illustrators Award in Zurich and for American Illustrators. She also won the Junceda Prize to the best adult fiction book and the XL Prize to “Young artists to watch in the next decade”, awarded by the magazine El Duende.
She has published three books: Chromorama (Les editions de la cerise, Bordeaux, 2008); Cromos de luxe (Editorial Monográfico, Madrid, 2007); and Puede que esta vez (Maybe this time), Editorial Sins Entido, Madrid, 2006 and Éditions de L’An2, Le Rosier, 2006. She has also taken part in the collective book Pepsi-Weimar, published by the Semana Negra de Gijón in 2008. As illustrator and comic artist, Sonia Pulido has worked for El País Semanal and El País de las Tentaciones; for publishing houses Planeta and Anaya; for Kosmópolis (Centre de Cultura Contemporànea de Barcelona); for ClubCultura (FNAC) and for the magazines Barcelona Magazine, RockdeLux, Cinemanía, Ling, Calle 20, Benzina, NSLM, Woman, Delicatessen (La Santa Cultura Visual).

How would you define yourself?

At present, as “chaotically structured”.

What can the audience expect from your collaboration with Spain NOW!?

A visual poem or a written illustration. A work in which words and images have been growing in parallel. A shout, a jump, reflections and a big dose of irony.

What do you think your collaboration with Spain NOW! will bring for you?

It has given me the opportunity to meet Ana, the poet with which I have been working, and the working process we have generated has been very special, a very enriching experience. It has not been a matter of illustrating a given text, but it has all grown intertwinned and interlinked: building with words and images as if they were a whole.

Describe or give us some insights about your creative process.

Normally there is something that starts the process: a word, a sentence, a melody, an image… From there there is a series of idea associations and searches for meaning that end up being translated in images that can be read at different levels, depending on the complicity of the spectator.

Where have you shown internationally before? And in Spain?

Amongst other places, in Finland, Italy, France, Bolivia and the US. The last exhibition in Spain has been in “Espacio Infame”, an alternative workshop/gallery space in Barcelona.

What can you say about the current state of Spanish culture within your field? What other emergent Spanish artists can you recommend for those who enjoy your work?

We are living a good moment. I would especially recommend Paz Boïra, Carmen Segovia, Pep Montserrat… but there are many others!

Do you have affinities or share interests with any artists working in the UK?

I believe the current British illustration scene is very interesting. I particularly like the work of Laura Carli or Luke Best.

Define your work (either in general or your collaboration with Spain Now) in a sentence…

It’s a potpourri!

Define yourself as:

  • a geographical accident: A valley and, sometimes, an island
  • an animal/mineral/plant: Cat/Quartz/Jasmin
  • a dish/food: Fresh prawn-filled cod and Iberic ham.
  • a London Underground station: Camden Town and, because of its name, Elephant and Castle.