Interview with Toti Cuesta
You've made a significant shift from a career in law to pursuing art. Can you describe the moment or experience that triggered this transition? How did your background in law and languages influence your artistic journey?
There was no specific moment for this transition since art was always present in my life. I studied law because it was expected of me to have a university education and a profession. In doing so, I was responding to the demands of society and family expectations in an environment where creativity was considered a hobby. But I was always an artist. What was difficult was to dare to say that I was. Art is what saved me from that intellectual world in which I grew up and in which I didn't understand anything. There came a time when everything stopped making sense, and art knocked on my door with such force that I had no choice but to answer it.
The transition was like living in a world of masculine energy to awakening as a woman artist. This journey has recognized and accepted a sacred and powerful feminine energy. It is as if a Goddess dwells within me, a spiritual presence that moves between the earthly and the divine. She represents the intensity and authenticity with which a woman can experience love, emotions, and life in all its facets.
All my previous training has been essential to get here since having a legal background has helped me to organize a new activity. They are indeed two completely different worlds that are difficult to combine. With languages, it is different because I have always worked in the international field, and that has been a great support in the path of art because of the ease it has given me when it comes to making my work known.
You mention that your art arises from a spiritual need. How do you integrate this spiritual aspect into your creative process, and how does it shape the final outcome of your works?
Art has guided all my inner search; it is my engine, my inspiration, and it has helped me to understand everything I did not know how to express in words. All the answers I have not found in the physical world have been given to me by my paintings, which are alive and answer my questions even before I ask them.
There is an inner need in me to create that is beyond the physical world. When I paint, I connect the earth with the universe. I put myself at the service of art so that art materializes through my hand, and I enter into a deep silence; my movements slow down, and my consciousness expands. It is a resonant silence; it vibrates, and it is electric. It does not sound like a sound of the physical world; it is like a vibration that contains information, a sound message that must be deciphered and understood.
I step out of space-time, and my connection with myself and my perception of the outside world intensifies. It is a state of expanded consciousness.
Do I paint, or is my hand guided by a much greater force that materializes what it wants to transmit in the painting? I need to learn how to answer this question. Sometimes, when I finish painting, I look at it and see it for the first time.
Painting is an act of absolute surrender and absolute love. Only from surrender and love can the message of art be materialized in a painting.
As an advocate for environmental conservation, how do you incorporate this theme into your watercolor paintings, and what message do you hope to convey about nature and our relationship with it?
The world needs a significant change. Art adds harmony and beauty to life and fills it with peace. It is time to open our eyes and see the world differently because none of what we see is true.
My paintings offer a new vision of the world in which the human figure, generally female, is integrated into nature and the urban landscape. My idea is to convey the power and strength of humanity and the need to preserve and love our environment to make it a livable place. My goal is to achieve an awakening of consciousness. For this, it is essential to see the world differently, to offer a different view of our reality.
In my watercolors, I use symbols and colors to convey a message of love and care for nature and the environment around us. Nature is our sustenance, Mother Earth. Through my art, I seek to capture the beauty of the universe and the human experience, provoking a reflection on our interaction with the environment and the importance of preserving the natural and cultural beauty surrounding us.
Having trained as an Art Therapist, how do you see the role of art in healing and personal growth, both for yourself and others?
When art has a purpose, it is sacred, and its message transforms the world. It is healing; it touches the heart and the soul and transforms you. Just by looking at it, your head stops, and the message of the painting enters inside you. It is changing you and informing you that there is a new world, different from what you see on the physical plane.
Art penetrates the cells and transforms the vibration. Its healing power goes far beyond what we have been told; it is a life force that penetrates through the eyes and resonates within us, altering the vibration and raising it.
My paintings have an energy of love, fullness, and connection with the earth and the universe. A connection with divinity can only be seen using a different language. It is not understood with words. The language of images, colors, and symbols offers an alternative vision of the world that inspires you to explore deeper levels of consciousness and rediscover human divinity.
Your work is characterized by the use of symbols and vibrant colors. Can you elaborate on the significance of these elements and how they help in conveying the essence of your subjects?
As a surrealist portrait artist, I use watercolor to create paintings that fuse symbols and vibrant colors, inviting you into a new world entire of light and life. Through these elements, I communicate universal stories that resonate in your unconscious, connecting you with the divine and the eternal.
The female figure, central in my works, symbolizes life, motherhood, creativity, resilience, and love. She represents Mother Earth, of love and respect for all that surrounds us, both nature and the urban environment, deserving of our care to build a more loving and just world.
My colors convey energy and emotion, using a mix of cool and warm tones to symbolize the connection between heaven and earth, arousing emotions and reflecting the human experience. The tree and the eye play crucial roles in my art, representing life, growth, clear vision, and deep understanding. The tree is a powerful metaphor for life, development, and the connection between heaven and earth. At the same time, the eye symbolizes our window to the world and the ability to perceive truths beyond the visible.
The tree woman symbolizes Mother Earth and the vital feminine principle. The interconnection between the two is life and renewal. They represent the resilience of both the natural world and the human spirit.
The female figure's integration in my paintings' architecture points to the fusion between the human and her creations, highlighting the often unrecognized female influence in our construction of the world.
What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in the art world, and what opportunities do you think need to be created for emerging artists, especially those focusing on environmental themes?
The significant challenges have been more with myself than with the art world since I went from the protection of having a profession in which I didn't have to explain who I was to having to show myself to the world. It has been a great challenge to dare to explain who I am and what art means to me. To transmit the legacy I want to leave and how art is my life mission.
Learning to change our idea of art and its role in our lives is essential. To give art its rightful place and to understand its transformative power.
The opportunities for emerging artists, and especially those dedicated to environmental issues, are very different from one country to another. In those places where the population is more environmentally conscious, it is easier to understand the essential function of art. In other areas, it is a big challenge.
I want the new generations of artists to have more possibilities to transmit their message through art and more help to start a path that comes from the soul and is often difficult to follow due to lack of funding.
Having received several awards like the Collectors Art Prize, how do these recognitions impact your career and your motivation to create?
When I receive an award, I feel a deep gratitude that motivates me to continue working in my line because it confirms that I am on the right path. When art has a sense of life and evolution, its value indicates that I am managing to convey my message. Still, it does not influence me when it comes to continue creating.
It is essential always to know who I am and what I came here to do to continue my mission. May my motivation to create arise from my inner calling so that I can follow my path with love, honesty, and the certainty that I am doing what I came here to do.
You aim to mix several planes of reality in your paintings. Can you explain this concept further and how you achieve this blending in your watercolors?
When I mix several planes of reality in my paintings, I mean that painting is a multidimensional experience. Everything that is captured in the watercolor comes from a different plane to the physical world. To express this, I use the fusion of elements that in daily life we see separately, so I mix the human figure, usually female with nature, with the urban landscape as a symbolic way to tell a story and invite reflection on who we are, where we live, the sacredness of the nature that surrounds us.
Everything is connected, and that is what I try to transmit in my paintings, offering a different vision of the world, reaching directly to the viewer's unconscious and awakening the dormant knowledge. In our global moment, it is crucial to understand who we are and our role in helping human beings recover their greatness and be aware of their place and responsibility in the care of the environment.
With my portraits, I want to raise awareness about nature, see it differently, and give it back its sacred character. Only when nature is no longer seen as a resource and regains its holy character will we be able to take care of the planet and we can continue living on it.
Looking forward, what are some of the projects or themes you are eager to explore in your art? Do you have any specific goals or aspirations for your work in the coming years?
My idea for the future is to continue exploring and letting inspiration come to me, always in the same line that I am doing now of surreal watercolor portraits full of symbolism and vibrant colors.
My goal is to help people find their way through art, find their place in the world, and be who they are meant to be.
My challenge is to explain my symbology and the meaning of each of the elements of my watercolors in writing, not only through images in the paintings but also to reach the most significant number of people and give art its rightful place. The mission of a painting is not to be hung on a wall or in a museum for everyone to admire but to provoke a change in those who look at it, to achieve a transformation.
Based on your unique journey and experiences, what advice would you give to aspiring artists, especially those who might be considering a career shift towards art or those interested in combining art with social or environmental activism?
Live with passion and choose from the heart who you want to be. Follow the voice of your soul and do what you love. You may have been raised in an environment where it's scary for you to be an artist, but if that's what you truly want, don't hesitate for a moment; go for it.
To start an artistic path at this time and to endure it, it must be from the mission of life, knowing that art calls you and will not let you escape. If not, there are so many difficulties that it is easy to give up.
No matter where your dreams take you, follow them because they tell you who you are, even if no one understands. Take your place in this world by being who you came here to be and not a different person.
