PAINTER. JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, CADIZ. SPAIN
ANA BARRIGA INHABITS COLLECTIVE MEMORY THROUGH TEXTURE, WHERE THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL BREAKS THE PLANE AND GLOSS BECOMES NARRATIVE. HER HANDS DO NOT PAINT, THEY SCULPT THE SURFACE. HER WORK IS LOOKED AT AND TOUCHED WITH THE GAZE. VOLUME DOES NOT OVERWHELM, IT SUGGESTS. STARRING @ANABARRIGAOLIVA
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LABARRIGA STUDIO
“Do you paint from calmness and happiness, or do you need a point of tension or melancholy in order to create?“
I paint as I live. Inside the studio I am still the same Ana that I am outside, and I spend many hours in the studio, so I have had to paint from all those places that life places on anyone. But it is true that I consider my painting to be vitalistic because that is how I am, inside and outside the studio, regardless of the situation I am going through. I imagine it is more a matter of attitude.
“What do you do with frustration when a piece doesn’t turn out the way you expected in your head?“
Those moments of friction are wonderful. I try and try again a thousand times if necessary, until my hand and my head start to understand each other. Sometimes even then it doesn’t work out, but it doesn’t matter—after all, I dedicate myself to painting, not to open-heart surgery.
“What do you find hardest to let go of or consider finished on a canvas?“
I believe that painters must be honest with our painting and aware of the power it holds. Painting is often more powerful than our ideas, and during the process, the painting challenges you, it pushes back. It is okay to struggle a little with it, but almost always it is the painting that wins the battle. I could see it as a failure, but I prefer to see it as a miracle.
“Who are you, and what are you passionate about doing when you put down your brushes and close the studio door?“
As I was telling you before, I am the same person outside and inside the studio, with or without brushes. A simple village girl who likes to go out on her bike and have a little dance now and then. But I also do that through painting.
“Do you find it hard to part with your works when they sell, or do you feel they no longer belong to you?“
For me it is a very magical moment. To do whatever you feel like in the studio and from that a work emerges that is capable of connecting with someone to the point of wanting to live with it, with the conviction that not only will they not grow tired of it, but that it will give them something every time they see it. I believe in God.
“Have you ever painted something so personal or painful that you decided never to show it to anyone?“
I have painted things in very complicated moments that life sometimes puts in front of us and we cannot even understand, we just have to let them pass. Interestingly, I think they could be among the most beautiful works I have painted. I suppose it is an unconscious way of healing irremediable situations. Although it is also true that due to the nature of my painting, that pain or sadness does not appear explicitly in the work, so I have never minded that those works could be exhibited.
“Does the silence in your studio accompany you or overwhelm you? What do you think about when you spend hours alone painting?“
I don’t usually paint in silence, the radio is always on or I put on reggaeton, opera, flamenco, etc. Silence feels somewhat funereal. And I often think that the universe, being infinite, is expanding. That’s powerful, isn’t it? But in the end, Brooklyn is here and now. I think about colors, brushstrokes, dialogues, all kinds of messy things… And I think about how lucky I am to be able to dedicate myself to this.
“What is the first thing you do when you hit a creative block in front of a blank canvas?”
Normally, before facing a blank canvas, I have the idea very well worked out. And to activate my creativity I play, read, listen, mess around as much as I can, I go out fishing in the streets… In short, I live, because that is where my painting comes from, from what I live.
Photography Courtesy Of Ana Barriga
Ana Barriga (Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, 1984) is one of the most relevant figures on the contemporary Spanish art scene. Her work, which moves between painting, sculpture and installation, seeks balance between reason and emotion, using humor, play and irony as tools to break with the established. She works with a wide range of materials such as oil, enamel, marker and spray, creating vibrant pieces where the everyday merges with the symbolic and the theatrical.
She holds a degree in Fine Arts and a Master’s in Idea and Production from the University of Seville (2014-2015). Her career has been recognized with nearly 40 awards, including the BMW Innovation Award (2021) and the Medal of Honor in Fine Arts (2023). Her work has traveled all over the world, with a presence at fairs such as ARCO, Art Basel Miami and Art Busan, and in galleries in New York, Dubai and Seoul.
Piece with Artist Magazine. AUGUST 2026. © www.piecewithartist.com
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