STUDIO
Here is where the magic is unleashed
IRON SILVER FEATHERS COINS GOLD BRASS LEATHER
IRON SILVER FEATHERS COINS GOLD BRASS LEATHER
Born in Bilbao, from a young age she arrayed her dolls with buttons, beads, and threads she found at home.
She had an innate talent of combining colors and pieces seen in the dolls she decorated, so we can say that her origin is found in her own childhood…
MATERIALS
In the beginning they were buttons and threads pulled from the sewing box at home, later she began to buy her own materials at local bead stores, available to anyone.
Her evolution and search for originality and exclusivity led her to begin using old coins, animal horns, antique rosaries, aged and broken necklaces she found in the antique markets of Hong Kong… All of them bound using metals such as brass, copper, or antique silver, handcrafted and linked as if they had been waiting all this time for someone to join them together.
ARTISANAL
The very definition of the word suggests that artisanal refers to “artisanal work (normally produced manually by a person without the help of machinery or automatization)” and “The artisanal is an entirely cultural construct, due to it’s peculiarity in varying depending on the culture, landscape, climate, and history of the area.”
Txus Aretxabaleta fulfils to the letter these definitions, as her current influences due to her location are more than clear, and her process of creation is completely manual.
THE
PROCESS
1/
Generally the materials themselves find Txus in her day to day life.
2/
When they arrive to her studio they don’t know into what kind of piece they will be transformed in the future.
3/
It is the worktable where Txus groups them and lets each one of them evoke a final piece.
4/
It at that moment that magic, experience, and the hands of the artist combine as a whole.
5/
In her hands, a maelstrom of fire, pliers, files, and polishing cloths moving in harmony bring out THE PIECE, and there will never be another like it. It would be impossible.
SALES
Each piece is unique, and is sold as such.
Today the Bilbao Guggenheim museum shop is the only commercial sales point in Spain for Txus Aretxabaleta’s pieces. This is representative of the artistic degree and quality of her pieces.
For sales outside the country, or personal orders, please get in touch with her through the contact form, or email indicated in the contact section of the webpage.
