Shane Dalmedo tells Gustavo Bacarisas’ story

Artist and writer Shane Dalmedo launched her book, ‘Gustavo Bacarisas’ in May this year. She spoke to Chronicle reporter Eyleen Gomez ahead of her session in the schools programme for this year’s Gibraltar Literary Festival.

Your book Gustavo Bacarisas celebrates one of Gibraltar’s most prolific artists, what inspired you to bring his story to life through illustration?”

Well, the most important aspect of this is that I wanted in my way honour his legacy and also that children learn about his life and work through a picture book.

How did you approach capturing Bacarisas’ artistic spirit and legacy visually, while still making the book engaging for young readers?

The more I learned about his life through my research, the more I was inspired to capture all this and transform it into words and images.

He was such a prolific artist and I could understand and sense the passion and drive that he must have felt when undertaking the many challenging opportunities presented to him, and which led him to also design sets and costumes for theatre, ceramics, etc

I selected what I thought were the most important aspects of his life and most relevant to his development as an artist:
His childhood in Gibraltar, his study in Rome as a young man, travels through Europe, and his stay in Buenos Aires, exhibitions, and importantly his decision to make Seville his home, and many other important events. It was also important to show his many visits to Gibraltar which included his stay here during the Spanish Civil War and his evacuation to Madeira, like so many other Gibraltarians and the recognition he received in Gibraltar for his contribution to the art world.

With all this information you also have to take into consideration a child's understanding of the world and tell the story in this instance balancing historical accuracy and the challenge of storytelling, I hope clearly.

As a mixed-media artist who has exhibited internationally, how do your own artistic experiences influence the way you illustrate and tell stories?

I, like Gustavo live the art life and in my work, storytelling has always been a strong force which has led me to a world where I can weave narratives around my characters using different media. My art practice takes many forms, I love to express myself through painting, mixed media works and I also love creating installations using elements I make and found objects, because I believe that they too hold their own energy and stories that interact with my characters, to form their own dialogue. All of this forms my artistic language. I always have to tell a story.

In this instance, the story was there for me to interpret and all this combined with my love for children’s books and the fact that I was telling the story of Gustavo the artist, the Maestro, and to me, the adventurer was a journey too hard to resist.

The illustrations for the book evolved in a way that I think is removed from my painting style using traditional materials. Most of the images emerged from hand-drawn images which I further worked on digitally.

Your work often crosses boundaries between art and storytelling, how do you see the relationship between words and visuals in inspiring imagination?

In a picture book, there should be a balance of words and illustrations, the illustrations engage the child and add to the narrative they can also help very young children to understand the story through colour, emotions, etc. We all read and understand art in our own way.

Having exhibited and worked away from Gibraltar also influenced the way I told his story as I could relate to the experience of showing your work abroad and also work-wise, creating in Gustavo’s case for the theatre and in mine for the animated film.

I think it’s very important to challenge yourself, these challenges sometimes take you to unexpected and welcomed destinations artistically speaking, and like in this case for me in the creation of a picture book.

Gustavo worked in different media, he used oils, gouache, pastels, etc. and frequently when I was holding my digital pen I thought that Gustavo, I’m sure would have embraced these digital tools too!

You’ll be delivering storytelling sessions to young people, what message do you hope to share with the next generation of artists and readers?

Yes, it’s lovely to be given the chance to visit the schools, I hope they enjoy learning about Gustavo’s creative journey, learn about his Art, and perhaps when they see his works at the Mario Finlayson National Gallery for example, it will help them to understand and appreciate his work more profoundly and be inspired.

The message? that art is not just about talent but also about passion, dedication, and a lot of hard work

You’ve been nominated for a Gibraltar Cultural Award for the second year running, how does that recognition influence or motivate your creative journey?

I have to thank the Cultural Awards Board for the nomination, it is humbling and also very encouraging to have been considered for this.
One has to create in one form or another, you create - in this case so that children can learn about Gustavos' life.
Art is a way of life, you just carry on.