Eden Alarcon — A continuous growth for both myself and the work

Plunged into my second year in Fine Art, I couldn’t have felt more like myself. The spaces, the team, the friends I have here… it has all had a positive impact on the person I stand to be today.

It became clear to me that AUB was the right place when visiting the spaces and getting to meet some of the fine art team a couple of years ago. Today, the contemporary environment inspires me to seek new approaches in my work, broadening my mind towards previously unthought materials, scales and projects.

Over the last year, I have developed a great passion of mine; looking at our relationship to Nature. Inspired by traditional artists like Caspar David Friedrich and Monet, to contemporary artists such as Daisy Boman, Mitch Gobel, and Richard Rowan, I have developed a range of approaches to the subjects of ‘connection’ and ‘trust’, using a mixed media approach. If it were not for my course team, always just an email away for guidance, I would not have seen the same growth in both my work and me.

Despite the unprecedented times in which we find ourselves, opportunity shines in every possible corner. From spaces at the university being made safe to use, great support from lecturers and technicians, and a variety of workshops and tutorials, to a series of different projects that have also been made available for development in practice and passion for art. I have the joy of being part of the Zarka residency project, looking at a collaboration of students from different cultural backgrounds, and using sound performance to bring back to light the endangered Whistle language of Antia.

I am also developing my passion for sculpting by taking part in a collaborative project, led by our sculpting technician Rose Leyshon, and Johé Bruneau, a French Artisan sculptor. The project, called Authenticity, enables us to develop new skills, using recyclable plastic whilst learning from the artist’s experience in the art world. As an ensemble, we learn about the materials that we use and their meaning, encouraging each other to grow in our individual practices. This project feeds beautifully into my personal interests, looking at our relationship with nature.

Throughout lectures, visits to galleries in London, and seminars, I have gained knowledge on the different meanings of making art, why we do it, and how we think through processes. Each new piece challenges me anew as both a learning artist and a viewer. Why this medium, in this particular environment? Does the scale support the purpose of the work, or does it challenge how it ought to be seen? It is a gift to study in an environment like Arts University Bournemouth. To learn, to be taught and to be encouraged in such splendid manners.

With the current approach of my work, I feel drawn to explore how we connect to nature. How we, as humans, can see beauty and serenity in the wilderness, and therefore want to protect it as we attach to it. In this project, I am also exploring the human relationship between one another, to inspire reflections on growth between us and nature. If we love another being, can we love a landscape where we stand together? If that love dies, does the appreciation for the landscape vanish with it?

Through my latest practice, I have looked at David Attenborough as a case study, exploring how significant his role is to many across the globe. I created a bust out of ceramic clay, working on the lines of the face to detail the experience he has gained through years of discovering the world. The lines and the clay reflect the contact and relationship that we hold with Mother Nature, a contact that should not be broken.

This work pushed me to develop my practice through pointillism drawings and oil paintings of landscapes, reinvigorating landscapes that I hold a personal attachment to. I find the personal involvement significant in my work, aiming to portray how one can love the natural world and encourage others to do the same.

My work includes drawing, painting, photography, sculpting with clay, and music.

I take satisfaction in developing senses and joys through a multitude of mediums. Through touch, sight, and hearing, one can invoke a deeper connection in others.

Being in the middle of my studies at AUB, I rejoice in knowing that so much unknown lies ahead of me in that special environment. More projects and memories are still to be made, with my wonderful friends by my side, and the fantastic team at AUB.