7 Questions with Ale Shack, ORIGINAL issue

Ale Shack is a visual artist, from Guatemala. Featured in Al-Tiba9 magazine.

Ale shack believes that every human being is full of unique beauty. Every time Ale takes a sheet and ink; she feels the task of portraying the soul, feelings, fears, and desires of a person, a situation, or a memory. Her work is based on details: "Everything is composed of small things that together create great wonders." Therefore, in her work to the smallest point, it has a purpose, many times, some details will be invisible to the eye, but that contribute significantly to her work. A simple view will not be able to see the story she is contacting through ink; it will depend a lot on the time she is willing to know it.

@ale_shack

Interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj.

What kind of education or training helped you develop your skillset?

I am a self-taught artist; I have spent the last four years creating my drawing technique. I learned by trial and error, getting frustrated every night at not getting what I wanted but trying the next morning again. When I started drawing my best teacher was YouTube, I did not have money to pay for drawing classes, but I think that helped me lose the fear of creating something totally mine, I did not know rules or principles, I just took a sheet, a pencil, with an open mind and a soul full of passion.

Please describe the intention behind your art. How do you successfully express this intention?

I like to think that what we cannot see is more beautiful than all that our eyes can catch. The soul, the feelings, desires, and fears are part of singular beauty, something impossible to draw. Still, in one way or another, we can transmit it, I intend that the public can feel what they see, that they can sense fear through some eyes, love through a form, desires through tones and meeting new souls through unknown faces. I think that by creating simple portraits, with small details, without much color, I have managed to ensure that the viewer does not lose attention for what they see and focus on what it feels to see it.

Where did you get your imagery from? What sources did you use?

I usually go online looking for faces to help me tell a new story, sometimes my best source of inspiration is unknown people that I see for the first time in life. Although I also like to create together with people I know because I have the advantage of knowing their history in the first row. When I finally have my source of inspiration, I take a paper, a pencil, and a pen to start creating.

Your work is based on details, and your philosophy is "Everything is composed of small things that together create great wonders." Please tell us more.

Throughout my life, I have learned that a small decision can change your whole life, that small gestures are what forge a beautiful relationship, and those high mountains climb one step at a time. If you look around you, everything works based on the union of many things; Even we are made of small organisms that we cannot see. My work is a reflection of what I see in life, short lines that together are a unique and unusual piece.

You say that every human being is full of unique beauty, something that must be exposed beautifully. Please tell our readers how simplicity coexists in your work with an essential and sometimes complex artistic research. Could you talk about your creation process? 

All my work begins with the idea that stuck in my head for many days, and I am not able to erase it, I think the most challenging part is those days that I spend shaping it. After having the idea, I start to mark on paper everything that I have in mind. Many times, I feel that the same work takes its course because I am not sure how it will be in the end. I observe and wait for the piece to tell me what to do because before my viewers can feel anything when seeing my work. My pieces are a mixture of simplicity with sophistication due to the small lines that unite little by little until they form something that started as insignificant but which is gaining strength.

What is your favorite experience as an artist?

I think my favorite moment as an artist is that little moment in which I am alone, in front of a blank sheet, where my creativity is the limit, and my inspiration is up to heaven. That moment of uncertainty because I still don't know what this piece will look like, but at the same time, I feel a sense of power to create something mine.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future?

I am currently working on pieces of social inclusion, which go beyond the usual and can be seen through our hands and ears. I am also working on pieces that can change the way we imagine museum art, dealing with more profound issues that are currently affecting our society. My plan for the future is to break stereotypes with my work, manage to break cultural barriers and unite people through feelings and empathy, to be able to share my vision with more people around the world to create awareness of situations that many are ignoring.