Born and raised between the Canary Islands and Barcelona, and now residing in Toronto, Canada, Susana Vilchez had been around art all her life. Her mother Aixado is also a wonderful artist, so it is really no surprise the talent was passed down to Susana, who loves the arts in all of their many forms.
“Art, especially illustration, has interested me since I was a baby. My mother, still pregnant with me, would paint long hours in a tiny room to pay the bills. One of my very first memories was picking up a crayon and paint with her,” remembers Vilchez. ”I always enjoyed painting and illustration, went to art school, got a fashion degree, and also did illustration and graphic design. I love any form of traditional art with all my heart and still do to this day”
If you visit Vilchez’s website www.suspirialand.com, you will see her unique style and how she takes on different subjects, both recognizable and not. Regardless, she treats each piece with care, precision, and lots of research.
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“Every single piece is a bit different. I do as much research as I can, gathering information, using photos, etc. I sometimes use friends’ hands, or even my own hands/postures, as references as well. Also, there is a lot of improvisation, things that come to my mind at the different moments, where I really feel the colors, the piece.”
Painting, like writing, can see the artist have tough days. Susana has experienced this as well, and an incident that was really hard to overcome.
“Years ago, someone really close to me stole as much artwork as they could to start a clothing company… I was devastated. I couldn’t paint or do any artwork for about a year. Thankfully, it’s been a while since I had to deal with any creative blocks, so to speak. Let’s just say that there are days where I need to take a walk to come back with some fresh ideas.”
Artists find inspiration in many places and for Susana, this was no exception. However, if you want to find the biggest influence on her life and career, you need to look no further than her mother, Aixado.
“My mom is my best teacher and the hardest working painter I know. Faithful to her realistic side forever, she was my inspiration at every level and she encouraged me from day one to follow my art dreams. In terms of being inspired by other artists, I love the old school European poster painters, all craft, hand-painted, hard work, and nothing but traditional.”
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The artistic community, as with most businesses, was hit hard by COVID. However, even though she saw her tattoo side of the business shut down, Susana was able to keep the business alive due to a thriving online need for her paintings.
“Besides Suspiria Land, I also co-own a tattoo studio with my partner in Toronto. Obviously, it had to be closed due to COVID and the pandemic, so after a few days of being in shock and feeling crazy anxiety, I put all of my efforts into selling my art online and working non-stop on any commissions people wanted. I was so happy for the great support, especially from my US clients, during these stressful times. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”
It’s hard to predict what is going to happen in the future at any time, especially now during the pandemic. Even though things are on the right track, Susana is trying to plan for every possible scenario, both personally and professionally.
“To be honest, really, who knows what’s going to happen? More lockdowns? All I know is I’m going to keep working non-stop on anything artistic that comes my way and makes me happy, and which will then allow me to visit my family in Spain more often. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do some comic cons with my new reps at Candence Comics, they’ve been so good to be, and also some horror shows, I love horror events, too!”
I want to thank Susana for taking the time to talk with us. Be sure to check out her website and email her for any print/commission/tattoo inquiries here: [email protected].
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