ART STATEMENT
My art practice serves a need to communicate narratives of underlying hardship within my own existence, stemming from attempts to understand the limbo-like space between childhood and adulthood while exploring the human condition as a female removed from the maternal reference while in infancy. I think of my body of work as aggregates of stories that bypass verbal outlinings and fall into the realms of the visually metaphorical, where every element in my compositions allegorizes a feeling, an emotion, the relentless attempt to achieve the processing of experiences. By the use of surreal, yet figurative, imagery, I aim at elaborating in the connection that forms between personal difficulties and the subsequent emotionality that inevitably derives from it.
When it comes to my paintings, I chose to work with acrylics and gouache over gesso on wooden panels, which allows me to combine a bold coloring with more delicate outlining and subtle gradation. My paintings come in a variety of formats, although I have a preference of medium to large ones. I intentionally make a non conventional use of light and attempt to enclose stillness within the main subject(s) of my paintings while allowing its surroundings to showcase more fluidity. I make an emphasys in the application of the darkest black and the whitest white in my paintings as a means to exacerbate facial expressions, which I coin as the ultimate representation of feelings and emotions.
When it comes to the painting process, I like to not use any reference other than the recollections in my mind.
I invite the viewers of my artwork to approach it as if searching for some kind of solace, like a oniric retreat, through the observance of the succinct metaphors suggested. After all, what I want for it the most is for it to be a reminder that there are endless possible interpretations to any and all happenings, but especially to those that hold the potential of shaking the comprehension of our own individual realities.
When it comes to my paintings, I chose to work with acrylics and gouache over gesso on wooden panels, which allows me to combine a bold coloring with more delicate outlining and subtle gradation. My paintings come in a variety of formats, although I have a preference of medium to large ones. I intentionally make a non conventional use of light and attempt to enclose stillness within the main subject(s) of my paintings while allowing its surroundings to showcase more fluidity. I make an emphasys in the application of the darkest black and the whitest white in my paintings as a means to exacerbate facial expressions, which I coin as the ultimate representation of feelings and emotions.
When it comes to the painting process, I like to not use any reference other than the recollections in my mind.
I invite the viewers of my artwork to approach it as if searching for some kind of solace, like a oniric retreat, through the observance of the succinct metaphors suggested. After all, what I want for it the most is for it to be a reminder that there are endless possible interpretations to any and all happenings, but especially to those that hold the potential of shaking the comprehension of our own individual realities.
BIO
Isis A, also known as Fourtoeight, is an independent graphic artist located in Madrid, Spain, encompassing disciplines such as painting, illustration and graphic design. Her personal art practice focuses on surreal painting, creating metaphorical depictions of the limbo-like space between childhood and adulthood while exploring the human condition as a female removed from the maternal reference during infancy and her observations of all it entails. Her work communicates narratives of underlying hardship, bypassing verbal outlinings, directly falling into the realms of symbolism.
Isis was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1987. After living in Madrid for a few years during her early childhood, she returned to Caracas after the death of her mother in 1993. Such events allowed her to spend much of her time with her grandparents, most especially with her maternal grandfather, a Colonial antique art restaurator and overall traditional art enthusiast, who became her first influence in the development of a taste for artistic expression. She moved back to Madrid after concluding a degree in Biology in 2005, and attended classes for a brief period in Escuela Superior de Ilustración Profesional (ESDIP), having Diego Catalan Amilivia as her instructor in the study of the fundamentals of gesture drawing and light-shadow balance in drawing composition. In 2018 she formally began her career as an illustrator.
While illustration was in her professional foresight for a number of years, the need for a consistent painting practice emerged as a claim for solace during a turbulent time in life, some time in 2017. What at first served her as an excuse to spend countless hours in her studio devoted to the crafting of medium to large format hyper colored, cryptic compositions, quickly became a pathway for the expression of ideas of emotionality and attempts to elaborate and deal with life experiences related to many folds of hardship. Since then, she has continued the relentless growth of her body of work, crafting collections of artworks within specific threads of thought.
Other than painting, her illustration work has been featured in a variety of media, ranging from storyboarding for children’s audiovisual contents, to indie videogames and dance/theater backdrops. Her most recent work, “La Hija del Escrutador” (July 2025) is a graphic novel for which she contributed all drawing and layout. She is currently creating illustrations for an EU-funded storytelling manwah-like project to be released later in 2026/7.
WORKSHOPS
MADRID/BERLIN
Portraiture & Traditional Techniques
An introductory course on figure drawing and portraiture utilising fine arts media.
Inside-out Observation and Creativity
A practical invitation to explore the bounds of creativity through portraying observations.