Artist Spotlight
Unveiling Creative Minds: The Soul Stash Artist Spotlight
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At Soul Stash Studio, we believe that every artist, or creative, has a unique story and a distinct perspective to share. Our Artist Spotlight is a dedicated platform that celebrates creators from diverse backgrounds and mediums, offering them the opportunity to showcase their work to a broader audience. We are committed to highlighting the artistic journeys that inspire, challenge, and captivate. From painters and sculptors to photographers and digital artists, authors, musicians, and any creative, our spotlight shines on the process behind the pieces, the inspiration driving their work, and their contributions to the ever-evolving world of art. Our interviews and features, offer a window into the minds of today’s most compelling creators, bringing their work to life.
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Soul Stash Studio aims to foster a supportive and collaborative artistic community through this initiative.
By elevating artists and sharing their stories, we seek to inspire both creators and admirers, bridging the gap between art and the people it touches. Explore the works of our featured artists, connect with their vision, and be inspired by the limitless possibilities of creative expression.
Ivana Larrosa
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Her work has been shown at Art venues and Museums including Anthology Film Archives, the International Center of Photography, The Exponential, Queens Museum, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Project Space Kleiner Salon, Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, and Galeria Sicart, among others. Larrosa's work is in the permanent collection of Foundations, Museums, Institutions, and Collections such as Bassat Private Collection and the Spanish National Museum of Sculpture.
Ivana Larrosa has received several grants such as the City Artist Corps Grant of New York, the Lluís Carulla Foundation Individual Artist Grant, and the Museum of Tortosa Artist in Residency, and numerous awards, including the Ramon Aloy International Photographic Award and Camera Club of New York Baxter St, Annual Juried Competition.
Ivana holds a BA in Film and Media Studies from the University of Navarra (Spain) and a Master of Fine Arts at Bard College-International Center of Photography (New York,
2016), where she was awarded the ICP Director’s Scholarship and taught video installation and performance.
Interview with Ivana Larrosa
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What inspired you to pursue a career as an artist?
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Since I was a child, I used to collect photographs from Sunday magazines. I was fascinated by utopic and surreal compositions that had nothing to do with reality as we see. Fast forward, in 2002 I had a car accident that left me with permanent double vision and a long period of recovery. That was a turning point in my life because that event brought me a deep message: “from now on, you are going to pursue only what you really love.”
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How would you describe your style or approach when capturing images or creating video content?
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Because of my double vision, I aim to translate my perception of what I see and what I don’t see. I like to think in emotions more than representations. I combine layers in a sense that might disorient the viewer. It's almost as if my images destabilize the narrative and resist grounding, searching for an upside-down world.
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Photo Credited to Matthew Papa
Can you walk us through your creative process, from conceptualizing a project to its final execution?
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When I work with video, most of the time I don’t have a project in mind. I have an idea and I try to create a short video or performances, almost like a sketch. After I collect several of them, I start to make sense in a bigger picture. They are like fragments that I can create different iterations by combining them in a video installation.
Sometimes, like in my last project “Beach Birds,” one of those short videos become very meaningful and I develop a storyboard. My film is inspired by a Merce Cunningham piece that I researched at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. When I was in the pre-production stage, I had vivid dreams about the story and those dreams were very informative.
How do you decide whether a story is better told through photography or videography?
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I let the idea happen by exploring with different media (drawing, photo, video, sound, etc.) and I chose the one that speaks to me. If there is more than one, I combine them to exhaustion. At the end, it’s about the materiality, the essence is the same.
What role does technology play in your work, and how do you stay updated with the latest trends and tools?
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I like to explore different media, and I am always open to learning new tools. For my last short film, I ended up designing the sound and music and I had to watch lots of tutorials. Another project that I am working on, started due to a class I took about creating images with AI. It’s a comic about a rapping space monkey called L’il Snow Flake that is sent on a mission by NASA: investigate the disappearance of multiple space animals whose spacecraft have returned empty to the International Space Station (ISS).
Are there any particular themes or subjects that you find yourself consistently drawn to in your work?
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My work is an exploration of identity through the body and its limits. Memory and trauma are very present, and also perception and architecture. I investigate the impact of my double vision and my experience of space with playfulness, as well as eccentricity and humor.
How do you find the balance between capturing spontaneous moments and carefully planned shots in your projects?
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I am trying to be open to both of them. I have learned to ignore those
negative thoughts while I am recording a "spontaneous shot,” like “what do you need this for.” There is something magical about following an impromptu idea or a hunch. You never know if it will be an inspiration for your project or part of your memories that might inform future work.
Which project or piece of work are you most proud of, and what makes it stand out to you?
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Artists always have this tendency to talk about our last project. “Beach Birds” is my treasured one. It’s a 15-minute short film where a shaman and my spirit animal become my mediators of a healing journey that allows me to move from trauma to the idea of an event as a catharsis. I borrow tropes from experimental film to open the door to a healing trance: Merce Cunningham dancers, shown in photographic negative, perform ballet moves against animated music notes from the score of John Cage (Four3 "Beach Birds") with New York City as a backdrop. The result is a deeply personal meditative essay on the secret to healing trauma. A contemplative composition that weaves chance with shamanic motions.
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What advice would you give to aspiring photographers or videographers who want to break into the industry?
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Rick Rubin says “Living as an artist is a practice. You are engaging in the practice or you are not. It makes no sense to say you are not good at it. It's like saying “I am not good being a monk” You are either living as a monk or you're not. We tend to think of the artist's work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.”
How do you think your work contributes to or reflects the current state of visual storytelling and in what ways do you want to leave a legacy as an artist?
I am a a bit of a "tortured artist," as you can conclude from 22 years of dealing with my trauma, but I am also very proud of myself that I finally embody this healing and I took it into a forward path. My work speaks from my heart that is always longing for connection, with my own body and within the world.
If I didn’t have such an amazing community around me supporting and guiding me, I don’t think I could have been able to find my individuality through the process of making art. In this journey I have learned and connect with incredible mentors and strangers, friends and family, and a wonderful and supportive husband, that I feel very grateful to. Healing is possible and real and paradoxically it is a learning process that never ends. The Buddha famously said “life is suffering.” What causes suffering is desire, the desire of healing or end suffering. The good news is nothing is forever.