Everyone in the IE community is aware that our community is full of extraordinary people. For example, if you pick an IE student at random you have 80% possibility that they’re gonna be fluent in more than 4 languages, have lived everywhere, have practiced every sport you can imagine and maybe even play an instrument or two.
I believe we are now too used to this exceptionality and sometimes we tend to forget about how special some students at IE truly are and so I wanted to start highlighting these extraordinary students in a new series; Student Spotlight. On the 1st of May I had the pleasure of attending the exhibition “IE Clubs” Finale at Casa de La Moneda, and interviewing some of the artists!
The exhibition was titled “Cycles” and presented the many pieces that the art club has been developing throughout this academic year. The aspect that striked me the most is that the art pieces, besides varying a lot in style and techniques, were created by the whole IE Community; students from every year and degree, personnel from the BBA Office, and even the children of the security guards working at the Creativity Center! I believe this was an amazing way to pull together and include a lot of members from our community that usually are forgotten as they’re not students, but are still part of our everyday life in Segovia!
The main exhibition took part in the main hall of the Creativity Center and you could find a great variety of art pieces including pictures, paintings, installations and drawings to even the wooden palettes the artists used to mixed colours! I was amazed by the talent and dedication that some of the students showed to pull together this great exhibition.
I even had the pleasure to meet the President of the Art Club: Ida Nydelius, a second year PLE student, and ask her a few questions about her passion for art.
Me: “ What got you closer to art and pushed you to become part of the Art Club?”.
Ida: “ I have always loved art, to the point where I didn’t know if I wanted to study art or politics in University. I ended up studying PLE, although I still wanted to do art in my free time, so that’s why I joined the art club! With time I got more and more involved and this year I became the president!”.
Me: “What do you like about art the most?”.
Ida: “I love how it is introspective and meditative but at the same very practical”.
Me: “ What inspires your artworks?”
Ida: “ I am very passionate about culture and my home, so most of my paintings represent some traditional and folkloristic moments from my own country, Sweden”.
The second artist I interviewed was Kristina Goveas, a second year PLE student that created an amazing interactive installation that I was able to be apart of!
The installation consisted of three big concentric circles formed by balloons filled with different colors of paint; and everyone was welcome to shoot a dart and try to hit one of the balloons.
“ It took us two days to build this installation”, said Kristina, “and I am very proud of it because I can see how it makes people happy when they manage to hit one of the balloons and see it creating art. Now it’s everyone’s painting, not only mine. We made three concentric circles, as the name of the exhibition is called “cycles”. Also, the structure of it reminds me of the darts you can play in bars, which is the same movement you do here”.
Me: “ This is super nice! It’s amazing seeing how art brings people together. Is there any specific reason or moment that pushed you to join the art club?”.
Kristina: “ Yes, I really have to thank Covid for this. At the beginning of the academic year, the restrictions were way worse and it was very hard to meet new people or find new activities to do. So I decided to join the Art Club and I was amazed!”.
Me: “That’s great! How did you do when everything was closed to keep going with the classes?”.
Kristina: “ Around October, when even bars were closed, we used to go with our teacher to the hills and paint with watercolours, surrounded by nature. I found it extremely liberating, and it helped me balance my uni life, as it was both an opportunity to destress and to socialize! I highly recommend everyone to join, even if you have never painted before! I myself started here! Our teacher is amazing and ready to help you with whichever technique you want to try out, he’s also passionate about philosophy, so he’ll be happy to inspire you! Plus, he only speaks spanish, so it’s a great opportunity to get a language class for free!”.
While I was trying, and miserably failing, to hit the paint balloons, I also ran into Abdul Salam, a second year Business and Data Analysis student, president of the Student Government and artist! So of course I had to get his thoughts on the matter to share them with all of you.
Me: “ When and how did you discover your passion for art? Do you remember a moment of your life in particular?”.
Abdul: “ I have always been close to art, but more in the form of music. I started playing the guitar at 14 and lately I started desiring to learn how to make abstract paintings. I believe art is about matching your personality on a canvas, so everyone can find their own style based on their personalities. I got closer to the Art Club since I became part of the Student Government, as one of our main aims as a team is to create a tighter community and we believe that the increased use of the Creativity Center can aid in that. I came here today to support the Art Club and IE community and have fun!”.
Me: “ This is very interesting! As you study something so different from art, is there anything from your career that inspires your works?”.
Abdul: “ Definitely! The world of data is very abstract, and you kind of have to find meaning in it. I believe that in art is the same: you have to mix your ideas on a canva and transform them into something that is perceived as beautiful by other people, that will probably find another meaning to it. I think the reason why I am most interested in abstract art is because of this link with the world of data.”
The last artist I ran into was Carla, a Second Year Design student. I was surprised she was the only member of the club I had run into that studied something related to creativity.
Me: “ What do you believe inspired you to join the Art Club?”.
Carla: “ In my uni-related projects, I always have to work on creating something based on a problem, rather than just for it to be beautiful. Of course all us design students really enjoy being creative in the process, but the main aim is to solve a problem and deliver value to someone. Because of this I enjoy taking these two and a half hours a week to dedicate to my own creativity and to make something that is not meant to solve other peoples problems and rather just be”.
Me: “ That’s really interesting! Talking with the other artists I found out that most of them have found a very specific style or technique that they prefer to others, which one is your favourite?”.
Carla: “ I joined the club quite recently, and so far I have tried three different techniques: one studio, that is very specific and doesn’t imply creativity; one abstract painting and one oil painting. So far I am really enjoying experimenting with what our teacher suggests to us, so I can’t say I have found my own specific style yet!”.
I have enjoyed seeing these wonderful works of art and getting the chance to talk to the artists, to the point that they have kind of convinced me to try out the Art Club in case I have some free time in the next few weeks! Also, this pushed me to look more into all the extracurricular activities and opportunities that IE has to offer as we sometimes forget about them. Next time maybe we could all try to join a club and try something new for an afternoon, instead of spending it in Plaza, who knows!
