Dedicated to the art historical canon of painting, Álava is known for an ongoing series that reinterpret works by historical artists. These riffs signal a self-reflexive interest in the history of art – a remaking or re-scripting of the canon on her own terms.
This series of paintings compounds Álava's determination to construct an eminently feminine imaginary; with the image of women the central subject in Alava’s work, both in terms of thematic development and visual composition. Álava focusses on the depiction of women and their own particular life experiences; depicting strength and talent, as well as their vulnerability. However, her characters are profoundly human, and they inhabit a space of their own, in absolute control of the role they represent.
Although still reminiscent of early modern painting in both style and representation - arguably taking cues from Picasso’s blue period - this series communicates something more personal than more recent works; created at a time of vital transition for the artist as the first body of work made in an entirely new studio in Paris. As such, the figures that have emerged are not portraits or self-portraits, but transcend as symbolic of a spiritual search for meaning in the female experience and identity that accompanies the artist.
“There always remains a devotion to pictorial language, to the History of Art and in particular of Painting. I consider it a privilege and an honour to carry out this profession, which is so similar to the mystery of alchemy, because through the material one tries to reach the spiritual, in an incessant dance between the tangible and the intangible, between the conscious and the unconscious. Painting, like music, allows us to cross different frontiers, different epochs, and to touch at least slightly that timeless state that unites all human beings of all times.” - Chechu Álava
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In 2014, her work was selected by an international jury to be included in 100 Painters of Tomorrow, a book published by Thames and Hudson. Recent solo exhibitions include: Eros, Galería Alegría, Barcelona, Spain (2023); A Timeless Story, Cob Gallery, London, UK (2022); L’âme et la vie, Xippas, Paris, France (2022); The Restless Muses, Bravin Lee programs, New York, US (2021); Rebeldes, El Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (2020); Primeros Retratos, I.E.S. Bernaldo de Quirós, Mieres, Spain (2019); Volver a Pintar, Espacio Líquido Gallery, Gijón, Spain (2016). Recent group exhibitions include Unfair Weather, Lychee One Gallery, London, UK (2021); Pintura en las venas, Museo Barjola, Gijón, Asturias, Spain (2020); The Female Line, Smac Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2019); Las formas del alma, Instituto Cervantes, Rome, Italy (2019); 100 Painters of Tomorrow, Beers Contemporary Gallery, London, UK (2014).