ReachExtra
Rosario Pérez
“Feet on the ground and eyes on the sky” …This is how the painter Blanca Orozco, often feels about her life and her work. Herlatest exhibition ‘Pedes in terra adsidera visus’ opened last July in the archaeological complex of Baelo Claudia and remains open until 30th December.
Blanca Orozco cannot think of doing anything other than paint, and her extensive portfolio has been exhibited in such places as, the Contemporary Art Fairs of in Málaga and Madrid, Nando Argüelles’ Gallery in Sotogrande,Manolo Alés’ Gallery in La Línea, the Castle of Guzmán el Bueno in Tarifa, the José Luis Cano Foundation and Alcultura in Algeciras… In addition, some of her many paintings have also been enjoyed in the museums for Contemporary Art in Azuaga (Badajoz), Marmolejo (Córdoba) andthe Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
“I always say that I was born a painter because I’ve been painting since I was a child, for as long as I can remember… In fact, I have no memories of myself when I wasn’t painting, and it´s not something that I decided in a rational way, but its something that flowed naturally through me, as if it had been born with me…”
Thus, at a very early age and as a natural progression rather than by design her parents came up with the idea of enrolling her in an academy and then, years later, she studied Fine Arts at University. She has good memories of university life but does not believe that this marked a before and after in her artistic career. Neither does she think that of her stay in Berlin, although she did of course find all those experiences nurturing and enriching. “Actually, until you face your first exhibition and the challenge of trying to make a living by painting, you don´t realise that you have to find your own language, your own path… It is in taking your work out into the world in that seeking recognition little by little, that the challenge begins”.
For some years now Orozco has been living in Tarifa where she has her studio. She fondly remembers that one of her first exhibitions was a joint venture with her friend Fátima Conesa in the Cajasur exhibition room in Algeciras.“It was the largest exhibition of my works to that date and the first in which I sold a painting.…At that moment you learn the contradictory feelings that that generates. On the one hand, the joy and satisfaction of someone wanting to buy something of yours, but on the other hand, a kind of emptiness of letting go of something that you have created… It´s very nice that someone values a piece of work of yours,and chooses it, and wants to buy it, but at the same time, it´s strange to let go of something so personal, so intimate and then there´s a learning process that takes place… until you get used to it”.
Not in vain, Blanca Orozco considers herself a teacher, for ten years now she has been teaching others how to paint. She acknowledges her own particular teaching style . “I love to teach, but with a lot of freedom, and I don´t conceive my workshops as anything others than a space for expression and creativity… there always has to be a base and technique, of course, but the concept of the classical academy doesn’t suit me”.
