La Tacha: Enseñando por Alegrías

Piece description from the artist

Huellas: Impressions Through Movement was born in 2011 while I spent the year in Sevilla studying two very distinct art forms: fine art printmaking and flamenco dance. Printmaking is the design and production of tangible, replicable two-dimensional images. Flamenco dance, or baile, is a culturally-specific expression of movement, music and rhythm that is stimulating yet fleeting. Despite their obvious differences both artistic mediums make an impression physically, visually and emotionally. Huellas (footprints) seeks to explore both mediums of artistic expression by imprinting each baile graphically and metaphorically — translating a dancer's raw, ephemeral movement into the abstracted shapes, textures, lines and patterns of print.

By creating a matrix made of soft balsa wood on which collaborators dance a choreography, a favorite llamada, remate, or footwork pattern, I record their footprints using a process called 'relief.' The matrix is then printed — inking the positive space surrounding the impressions — while the un-inked negative space directs the viewer's eye through the dancer's movement. The print is then deconstructed, abstracted and rebuilt using additional techniques and materials reflecting the individual dancer's style, personality and presence.

About Isabel Hees

Albuquerque, NM

Artist Isabel Hees was born in Pasadena, California and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a student of the University of New Mexico, Isabel Hees studied both flamenco and printmaking. She graduated magna cum laude in the spring of 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She danced with the National Institute of Flamenco from 2008 to 2017, culminating in an apprenticeship with Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company. The recent debut of Huellas: Impressions Through Movement is an exploration of her two spheres of influence merging flamenco baile with fine art printmaking.

See Isabel's portfolio here
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