Helena Pallarés’ illustrations can be divided into two main categories: portrait and abstract art. While her portraits feature people she admires, like actress Penelope Cruz and painter Frida Kahlo, her abstract work is more conceptual, exploring subjects like the passing of time and the unconscious.
Born in Spain and currently based in Paris, Pallarés borrows techniques from collage art, when composing her illustrations. Using paper cuttings from vintage magazines mixed with pencil drawings and digital finishing touches, the finished product is a hybrid between traditional and contemporary art.
This unique hybrid was born out of trial and error, says Pallarés. “In the beginning I didn’t know what I really wanted to do,” she admitted in an interview with Talenthouse. “So, most of the works that I did at that time were clumsy compositions mixing photo and oil painting.” Jump forward some years later, and her artwork is now featured in international magazines and showcased in exhibitions and art fairs.
According to Pallarés, her work is very much inspired by surrealist art, as well as the Dada movement. “I found Dadaism and Surrealism when I was studying graphic design at the university and somehow that changed my life,” she says. “I was blown away by how Dada artists used the composition, the typography, and the color. It just matched perfectly my way to understand the aesthetic of design and I suddenly found the answer for many questions about the meaning of contemporary art.”
